7-letter words with H as the 2nd letter and C as the 5th letter

The pattern is _H__C__, with the fixed letters narrowing the search to 31 tournament-dictionary words. Familiar forms such as CHANCES and CHOICES sit beside less common entries like CHANCEL and CHANCED. The opening letter and ending are not fixed, so check those positions too when matching a board or a word puzzle.

The pattern at a glance

• There are 31 seven-letter matches with H second and C fifth.
• Collins includes 28 matches, NWL2023 includes 22, and ENABLE includes 16; these sets overlap.
• Only 2 matches are common by word-frequency ranking.
• C begins 13 words and S begins 10, the two largest starting-letter groups.
• S is the most frequent ending, with 13 words; Y follows with 7.

Which 7-letter words have H as the 2nd letter and C as the 5th?

CHANCES and CHOICES are the most familiar-looking examples, and both make the pattern easy to spot: each starts with CH and ends in S. CHANCEL and CHANCED share that opening but give you different endings to test against crossing letters.

The high scorers look less ordinary. CHYACKS and SHMUCKY each score 21, while CHURCHY and CHINCHY score 20. THWACKS reaches 19, making the unusual consonant combinations valuable when your rack or board supports them.

How should you use this letter pattern?

For 7-letter words with H as the 2nd letter and C as the 5th letter, begin by checking the first and last spaces: C and S are the leading choices, but W, T, and R also occur at the start. An S ending is common, yet 18 words end in something else.

Treat the score leaders as targeted plays, not everyday vocabulary. Just 2 entries rank among common English words, and dictionary coverage differs across Collins, NWL2023, and ENABLE. Check your game's word list before committing an unfamiliar form such as CHYACKS.