7-letter words with N as the 1st letter and I as the 5th letter

The pattern is narrower than a simple N-word search: the fifth tile must be I, while the other five positions stay open. Familiar matches include nothing, nursing, needing, and nearing. Only 8 entries rank among the most common English words, so expect plenty of less familiar plays alongside recognizable words.

At a glance: the shape of this word set

• There are 171 tournament-dictionary matches for this seven-letter pattern.
• G is the most common final letter, appearing in 45 matches.
• S comes next with 36 words; R closes 27.
• Only 8 matches rank among the most common English words.
• NEEZING leads the Scrabble scores at 17 points.

7-letter words with N as the 1st letter and I as the 5th letter

The ending letters show a clear tilt toward G: it appears in 45 words, compared with 36 ending in S. Many familiar examples belong to that G-heavy group, including nursing, needing, nearing, nesting, nagging, and netting. The pattern often catches an -ing ending, but not every match follows it.

The other common endings are R, with 27 matches, and E, with 21. Words such as nourish and nitride show why checking each fixed position matters: the fifth letter is I, but the final letters vary. Use the ending counts to narrow a clue, then verify every tile against the full pattern.

Which matches score well, and what should you watch for?

NEEZING scores 17 points, while NEBBICH scores 16; NITPICK, NIBLICK, and NUTPICK each score 15. Those high values come from less everyday vocabulary, not from the most familiar matches. For a more recognizable play, NOTHING or NURSING is easier to spot, though neither tops the score list.

For 7-letter words with N as the 1st letter and I as the 5th letter, dictionary coverage is worth checking before a tournament play. The set has 166 Collins entries, 133 in NWL2023, and 119 in ENABLE, so a word accepted in one list may not appear in another. NEEZING is the top scorer here, but the common-word count is just 8.