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

The fixed pattern is __NP___: the third slot is N and the fourth is P. The 19 matches include GUNPLAY and PANPIPE alongside less familiar forms such as FUNPLEX and NONPAST. None falls within the top 25,000 English words by frequency, so this is a narrow clue set rather than routine vocabulary.

The pattern at a glance

• 19 tournament-dictionary words fit __NP___.
• FUNPLEX leads the score table at 19 points.
• Seven matches start with N.
• Six matches end in S; K is next with three.
• Zero matches meet the common-word frequency cutoff.

Which 7-letter words have N third and P fourth?

Seven of the 19 begin with N, more than any other first letter; G, S, and T each account for two. The NON- group is a quick place to scan: NONPAID, NONPAST, NONPEAK, NONPLAY, NONPLUS, NONPOOR, and NONPROS all share the required middle NP.

Endings cluster differently. Six words close in S, while K appears at the end of three: compare TENPINS, TINPOTS, and SANPROS with MANPACK, HENPECK, and NONPEAK. If the last tile is known, an S ending is twice as common here as a K ending.

This pattern is unusually narrow: the matching seven-letter pattern with M in the third slot has 244 entries, compared with 19 here. If N is uncertain but P is fixed, check nearby third-letter patterns before widening your search to every seven-letter word.

Which matches score highest?

FUNPLEX leads the score table at 19, followed by HENPECK at 18 and MANPACK at 17. Their X, K, and C supply much of the scoring punch, so a premium square under one of those tiles matters more than simply chasing a long word. PANPIPE and GUNPLAY each score 13.

Dictionary coverage varies: Collins contains all 19 matches, NWL2023 has 16, and ENABLE has 14. Those counts overlap rather than add up. Zero entries meet the common-word cutoff, and only 15 have definitions, so expect an obscure clue set; check your game's word list before relying on a rare form.