7-letter words with E as the 2nd letter and W as the 4th letter

Nine of the 46 words open with SEAW, which makes SEAWEED, SEAWARD and SEAWALL the biggest family in the list. The rest are mostly compounds, such as NETWORK, KEYWORD and REDWOOD, built around a W in the fourth slot. Only five of the 46 are common words.

The E-W pattern at a glance

• 46 seven-letter words have E second and W fourth.
• Collins takes 44, NWL2023 takes 40 and ENABLE takes 36.
• KEYWAYS and JETWAYS lead the scores at 20 points each.
• A is the commonest third letter, with 12 words; E and T follow with 8 each.
• S opens 11 words, while R and W open 7 each.
• Only 5 are common words: SEAWEED, REDWOOD, BETWEEN, NETWORK and KEYWORD.

Which word families make up the 46?

SEAW leads with nine words, among them SEAWEED, SEAWARD, SEAWALL and SEAWAYS. REDW, WEBW and RETW follow with three, two and two. Many of the others, like LEGWORK, WEBWORM and WETWARE, are two short words glued together, so splitting the pattern in half often reveals the answer.

Endings spread out more evenly. Ten words end in S and eight in D, and E closes seven, as in LEGWEAR and REDWARE. T and M follow with five and four.

Which words with E second and W fourth score best?

KEYWAYS and JETWAYS score 20, with BETWIXT and WEBWORK at 19 and KEYWORD at 18. Y and J do the work in the top two. The average match scores 13.2.

Dictionaries split here. Collins accepts 44 of the 46, NWL2023 accepts 40 and ENABLE 36, so look up WERWOLF or WEYWARD in your game's list before relying on them.