7-letter words with F as the 2nd letter and A as the 5th letter

That fixed pattern leaves 14 tournament-dictionary entries, but the dictionary split matters: all 14 appear in Collins, while ENABLE and NWL2023 each include only 8. The examples range from familiar “offhand” to specialist forms such as “affeare” and “affraps.” None qualifies as common by our frequency cutoff, so expect an unusually tricky solve.

At a glance: the _F__A__ pattern

• Fourteen entries meet the exact _F__A__ pattern.
• All 14 are in Collins; ENABLE and NWL2023 each list 8.
• Eight matches begin with A, four with O; E and S contribute one each.
• Five end in S, more than any other final letter; D, E, and T each end two.
• OFFHAND, OFFTAKE, and OFFRAMP lead the score list at 17 points apiece.

Which 7-letter words fit F second and A fifth?

The 14 matches all share _F__A__, with the first and last positions still open. AFGHANS, AFGHANI, and AFFIANT show the A-starting cluster; OFFTAKE, OFFRAMP, and OFFCAST show how often O begins the rest.

A starts 8 of 14 entries, O starts 4, and E and S start one apiece. That makes A the strongest first-letter guess, but it still leaves six matches under other initials. Endings are less concentrated: S leads with 5, while D, E, and T each finish 2; I, O, and P each finish one.

Which matches score highest, and where are they accepted?

OFFHAND, OFFTAKE, and OFFRAMP each score 17 points in Scrabble, ahead of AFFRAYS and EFFRAYS at 16. Repeated F tiles show up in several strong scorers, including AFFRAYS, AFFRAPS, and EFFRAYS.

All 14 entries appear in Collins, but only 8 appear in each of ENABLE and NWL2023. Just 12 have definitions in our word records, and none is classed as common. A North American game using ENABLE or NWL2023 accepts fewer of these matches than Collins, so check your game's word list before playing an unfamiliar form.