7-letter words with A as the 2nd letter and D as the 5th letter

The pattern looks like _A__D__, leaving the first, third, fourth, sixth, and final letters open. Familiar matches include LAUNDRY, PARADOX, and MATADOR, but only four entries meet our common group. That contrast matters: a matching pattern can lead to an everyday word or a much rarer tournament entry.

Pattern snapshot

• Collins lists all 88 matches; NWL2023 includes 66 and ENABLE includes 60.
• Only four matches fall within our common-word group.
• P begins 17 words, more than any other starting letter in the pattern.
• S closes 22 matches, while R closes 16 and Y closes 14.
• JACKDAW leads the scoring examples at 24 points.

Which words score most on this pattern?

JACKDAW scores 24 points, ahead of MAZEDLY at 22 and DAZEDLY at 21. JADEDLY and KAKODYL each score 19, while PARADOX and WASHDAY each reach 17. The high scores come from words with valuable letters, not from the fixed A and D alone.

For a more familiar-looking option, PARADOX also scores 17 and LAUNDRY appears among the leading examples. JACKDAW is the expert pick when your rack supports its letters, but don’t assume every unusual scorer will fit your game’s dictionary.

How many words have A second and D fifth?

There are 88 matches across the tournament dictionaries, yet the counts differ by game: Collins has 88, NWL2023 has 66, and ENABLE has 60. Check your game’s word list before building a play around a less familiar entry; the Collins total does not mean every match is accepted everywhere.

The neighboring pattern with O in position two has 111 matches, while E in that position has 101. With A fixed in position two, changing the fifth letter to I produces 1,363 matches. That sharp jump makes the fifth-letter clue especially restrictive here, while P and S are the strongest first- and last-letter clusters.