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

The pattern is __D_L__: D sits in the third slot, L in the fifth, and the other five positions stay open. That still leaves a varied set, with words such as INDULGE, MODULAR, and RIDDLES. Only six entries rank among common English words, so expect plenty of specialist or inflected forms alongside everyday vocabulary.

The pattern at a glance

• The tournament-dictionary list contains 138 matching words.
• Collins includes 137, NWL2023 includes 110, and ENABLE includes 105.
• M leads the first-letter group with 23 words; P follows with 19.
• S is the most frequent ending, ahead of D and R.
• Just six matches are among the commonest English words.

How many 7-letter words have D third and L fifth?

There are 138 7-letter words with D third and L fifth across the tournament dictionaries. Their endings cluster strongly: 46 finish in S, 36 in D, and 25 in R. Together, those three final letters account for 107 matches, so check the last tile before working through less frequent endings.

The opening letters also give you a quick sorting clue. M begins 23 matches and P begins 19, while R begins 12 and C begins 11. Try TODDLER, MODULES, and INDULGE as recognizable pattern checks; each places D and L in the required slots.

Which matching words score well?

MUDFLOW is the top scorer at 16 points, with MUDFLAP and FIDDLEY close behind at 15 each. Those are less familiar choices than TODDLER or MODULES, but the unusual F and W make MUDFLOW worth spotting when a board leaves those letters open.

The small common-word count is the main limitation: most entries are not everyday vocabulary, and dictionary coverage varies. Collins has 137 matches compared with 110 in NWL2023, so check your game's word list before playing a less familiar form.