7-letter words with A as the 3rd letter and L as the 5th letter

The pattern is _ _ A _ L _ _, fixing A in the third slot and L in the fifth. Familiar matches include smaller, trailer, shallow and emailed. The list also contains many uncommon entries: just 17 words rank among the 25,000 most common English words by frequency.

Key facts about A-third, L-fifth words

• There are 138 tournament-dictionary matches for the A-third, L-fifth pattern.
• Smaller, trailer, shallow and swallow are recognizable examples.
• S begins 38 entries, more than any other starting letter in the pattern.
• D is the most common final letter, ending 42 matches; S ends 30.
• Gravlax, wraxled and grawlix top the scoring examples at 18 points each.

Which letters and dictionaries narrow the choices?

The first letter gives you a useful sorting clue: S starts 38 words, while C starts 18 and T starts 12. Try smaller, shallow, swallow or scarlet when S is available; trailer and charlie show how C and T can open other routes. On the other end, 42 entries finish in D, compared with 30 in S and 20 in R.

Coverage differs by tournament dictionary: Collins contains 134 matches, NWL2023 has 97, and ENABLE has 89. Those totals overlap, so the full count does not mean every word is accepted in every game. Check your game's word list before committing to an unfamiliar entry.

Which related patterns should you check?

For 7-letter words with A as the 3rd letter and L as the 5th letter, gravlax, wraxled and grawlix are the top scoring examples, each worth 18 points. Quailed and teazled follow at 17. Those less familiar words offer a scoring contrast with everyday choices such as smaller or trailer.

The fifth-letter choice changes the size of this pattern sharply: switching L to I gives 631 matches, while E gives 317. Keeping L but shortening the word produces 113 six-letter matches and 39 five-letter matches. Use those neighboring patterns when one fixed slot is wrong, rather than forcing a match that does not fit.