7-letter words with D as the 1st letter and L as the 3rd letter

The pattern is D _ L _ _ _ _, so the first and third tiles are fixed while four positions remain open. Familiar fits include dollars, delayed, delight, and dilemma. Only 9 matches meet the common-word cutoff, which makes this pattern more useful for checking a tight rack than for browsing everyday vocabulary.

The D-L pattern at a glance

• The seven-letter pattern is D _ L _ _ _ _, with L locked into position three.
• There are 99 matches across tournament dictionaries, with 9 classed as common.
• Dollars, deliver, delayed, and dilemma are familiar examples that fit the pattern.
• Dulcify leads the Scrabble scores at 16 points; delphic follows at 15.
• S is the most frequent final letter: 36 matches end in S.

Which familiar words fit the pattern?

Dollars, deliver, delayed, deleted, delight, dilemma, and dolphin all place D first and L third. Their different endings show why the four open slots matter: dollars ends in S, while deliver ends in R and delayed ends in D.

For a rack check, write D-L into the fixed slots before testing your remaining tiles. The final letter gives another useful filter: 36 matches end in S, compared with 13 ending in D and 12 each ending in E or R. Those four endings account for most of the pattern’s options.

How do 7-letter words with D as 1st and L as 3rd narrow a rack?

Use the fixed letters first, then look for familiar stems such as DEL- in delayed, deleted, and delight, or DIL- in dilemma and diluted. This separates plausible everyday plays from the longer tail of less familiar entries; just 9 of the 99 matches count as common.

Dulcify is the top Scrabble scorer at 16 points, while delphic scores 15 and dolphin scores 13, well above the 9.6 average. Dictionary coverage also varies: Collins has 97 matches, NWL2023 has 74, and ENABLE has 71. Check your game’s word list before relying on an unfamiliar entry.