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

The pattern produces a narrow set: just one entry counts as common, while 52 have definitions. Collins accepts 63 matches, compared with 44 in NWL2023 and 38 in ENABLE, so a word’s status can change with the game’s dictionary. Recognizable examples include atlases, enlists, and splashy; many other matches are specialist terms.

How many 7-letter words have L third and S fifth?

• Exactly 67 tournament-dictionary words fit the fixed L-third, S-fifth pattern.
• XYLOSES leads the scoring sample at 17 points, ahead of SPLASHY, MILKSOP, and HYLISMS at 15 each.
• Thirty-six matches end in S, making S the most common final letter by a wide margin.
• M begins the most entries, with 10; T follows with 8.
• Changing the fifth letter to I yields 443 matches, far more than this S pattern.

Which final letters appear most often?

Thirty-six of the 67 words finish with S, a little over half; the next endings are E with 10 and A with 7. That cluster makes plural-looking forms a practical first scan: ENLISTS and ATLASES both fit, while CELESTE ends differently.

The word shape does not force a single opening letter. M leads with 10 entries, yet B and H each contribute 6, and C and D each add 5. Try the fixed letters first, then test the first and final positions instead of assuming an S ending.

The pattern is much narrower than its closest position swap: 7-letter words with L third and I fifth number 443, while the S-fifth set has 67. Keeping one letter fixed and changing the other can reopen a far larger search space.

XYLOSES tops the score list

XYLOSES is the top scorer at 17 points; SPLASHY, MILKSOP, and HYLISMS each score 15. Their high values come from the unusual letter mix, not from the shared pattern alone. Average score across the set is 9.6, so the leader sits well above the typical entry.

For a board game, compare the raw score with rack needs and crossing opportunities before committing to a rare entry. A 17-point face-value lead does not account for bonus squares or the words opened for an opponent.