7-letter words with N as the 3rd letter and L as the 4th letter

The N-L sequence is fixed in the middle, but the endings split sharply: 16 entries finish in S and 12 in E. WINLESS, SUNLESS, and SINLESS show a productive -less family; SUNLAND and FENLAND take a different route. None falls within the common-word cutoff, so expect specialist vocabulary rather than everyday words; the position clue narrows a seven-tile search, but the entries vary in familiarity.

Coverage, endings, and standout scores at a glance

• Tournament coverage totals 39: NWL2023 includes 38, Collins 36, and ENABLE 31; the lists overlap.
• No entry meets the common-word cutoff, despite recognizable forms such as WINLESS and SUNLESS.
• S is the most frequent ending, with 16 words; E follows with 12.
• Seven entries begin with S, the largest opening-letter group; F and M each contribute four.
• Five words share the top score of 14 points, among them GENLOCK, FANLIKE, FINLIKE, and HENLIKE.

How many words fit the N-L pattern?

Thirty-nine 7-letter words fit the N-L pattern across at least one tournament dictionary. The totals are not additive: NWL2023 has 38 matches, Collins has 36, and ENABLE has 31, so a word accepted in more than one list appears only once in the overall count.

Coverage is tightest in ENABLE; checking the word list used in your game matters most for edge entries, not for familiar forms such as WINLESS. Thirty entries have definitions, while others include niche words such as CONLANG and GENLOCK beside SUNLESS and MANLIER.

This is a narrow slice: the parallel pattern with L in both middle positions has 537 entries, far more than this N combination.

Which examples and scores stand out?

Five words share the top score at 14 points, among them GENLOCK, FANLIKE, FINLIKE, and HENLIKE. The scores beat the 10.1 average, though these standouts are not everyday vocabulary.

The 7-letter words with N as 3rd and L as 4th letter include several clear ending families. SUNLESS, SINLESS, FINLESS, GUNLESS, MANLESS, KINLESS, and PINLESS share -less; MANLIKE, FANLIKE, and FINLIKE switch to -like. That suffix clue is more revealing than guessing the final letter, since the set spans several endings.

SUNLAND and FENLAND offer more recognizable alternatives when a board or rack favors land-related forms.