7-letter words with L as the 1st letter and M as the 6th letter

With only 16 matches, this pattern is unusually tight: L must lead, M must sit in position six, and just one letter remains between M and the final tile. Collins lists all 16, while ENABLE and NWL2023 each include 10. None falls within the top 25,000 English words by frequency, so expect specialist vocabulary rather than everyday guesses.

The pattern at a glance

• There are 16 tournament-dictionary entries with L first and M sixth.
• Collins lists all 16 matches; ENABLE and NWL2023 each list 10.
• Ten entries end in S; A and E account for three endings each.
• LOGJAMS leads the listed tile scores at 17; LAXISMS follows at 16.
• No match ranks within the top 25,000 English words by frequency.

Why are there so few matches?

The fixed pattern is L _ _ _ _ M _: only positions two through five and the final tile can vary. That leaves a narrow search space, and the endings confirm it: 10 of the 16 matches finish in S, while A and E account for three each.

For a rack or crossword, test the S ending first, but don’t mistake the count for everyday vocabulary. LACTAMS and LOGJAMS are more recognizable than LINGAMS, LEPTOME, or LORDOMA; none falls within the frequency cutoff for common words.

The scarcity is striking beside nearby patterns. Among seven-letter words with M sixth, L-starting entries total 16, compared with 59 starting with S and 41 starting with M. Keep L first and change the sixth letter to E, though, and the count jumps to 316.

The second fixed letter drives much of this pattern’s rarity.

Which matches score the most?

LOGJAMS is the scoring standout at 17 points, with LAXISMS at 16 and LYCEUMS at 14. J and X carry heavy tile values, which explains why those less familiar words outrank the rest on a plain tile count.

LEUKOMA scores 13, while LYRISMS, LAYTIME, and LEHAIMS each score 12. Collins has six more matches than either ENABLE or NWL2023, so confirm your game’s active lexicon before playing an unfamiliar entry.