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

Lock in the pattern _ _ L _ A _ _ before scanning candidates: the third character must be L, and the fifth must be A. The matching set ranges from familiar words such as VILLAGE and WELFARE to less common entries such as ZILLAHS. Only 27 matches fall among the commonest 25,000 English words, so expect plenty of unfamiliar options.

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

• The fixed pattern is _ _ L _ A _ _, with L in slot three and A in slot five.
• There are 223 matches across tournament lists; Collins has 219, NWL2023 has 162, and ENABLE has 148.
• Just 27 entries rank among the commonest 25,000 English words, so familiar examples are a minority.
• A final S is especially common: 94 words end in S, compared with 56 ending in E.
• P is the most frequent starting letter, with 25 matches; S follows closely with 24.

Which examples fit the pattern?

RELEASE, VILLAGE, WELFARE, and VOLCANO all match the same letter slots. Their different openings show why checking only the first letter can miss strong candidates: the fixed L and A sit in the middle, while the first and last letters vary.

The final-letter counts narrow the search quickly. DOLLARS, PILLARS, and COLLARS illustrate the large S-ending group; RELEASE ends in E, the next most frequent ending. Only four matches end in A, so an A at the end is a much tighter clue.

Changing the fifth letter from A to I produces 443 matches with L still in third position. That contrast makes the A clue more selective; keep it fixed before trying alternative first or final letters.

Which matches score highest?

ZILLAHS leads the scoring examples at 19, followed by JILBABS at 18. CALPACK and KALPAKS each score 17, while BULWARK, POLEAXE, JELLABA, and HALVAHS score 16. The average score across the matching words is 10.6.

These leaders sit well above the 10.6 average, but a high tile score does not guarantee acceptance. Collins includes 219 matching entries against 162 in NWL2023, so check unfamiliar plays against your game's word list.