7-letter words with C as the 1st letter and S as the 5th letter

The pattern is C _ _ _ S _ _: the first letter is fixed, as is the fifth, while four slots remain open. The matches range from familiar forms such as CLASSES, CLASSIC, and COURSES to less everyday entries. Only 17 qualify as common by frequency, so treat the full set as a dictionary pool, not a shortlist of likely everyday answers.

The pattern at a glance

• 115 entries match this exact seven-letter pattern.
• Only 17 rank among the top 25,000 English words by frequency.
• CLASSES, CLASSIC, COURSES, and CROSSED show familiar shapes.
• COCKSHY scores 21 points, the highest score.
• 48 matches also finish with S; the rest end elsewhere.

7-letter words with C as the 1st letter and S as the 5th letter

Do not assume the fixed S is the final letter. 48 of the 115 words end in S, including CLASSES, CLASSIC, COURSES, CROSSES, and CRUISES; the remaining 67 end in other letters. That distinction matters when a puzzle already rules out a final S. CROSSED and COUNSEL keep S in position five but finish with D and L.

Changing one known slot shifts the pool sharply: keep C first and place I fifth, and 547 seven-letter matches appear; E fifth yields 347. S is a restrictive fifth-letter clue, not a broad one. When another crossing changes that position, switch to the matching pattern rather than assuming this 115-word pool still applies.

Which entries score well, and what is the catch?

The dictionary split is uneven: ENABLE contains 83 matches, Collins has 107, and NWL2023 has 95. The overall count includes words present in at least one of those tournament lists, so a word can fit the pattern yet fail in a particular game's dictionary. Only 17 are common by frequency, making obscure entries a real limitation for casual guessing.

For 7-letter words with C as the 1st letter and S as the 5th letter, COCKSHY leads at 21 points; CHOWSED scores 16 and CHIPSET scores 14. Those are tile totals before board premiums. Check crossing letters before chasing the top score: COCKSHY needs a Y at the end, which may not fit your rack or board.