7-letter words with P as the 1st letter and L as the 4th letter

The pattern fixes P at the start and L in the middle, leaving five positions to distinguish the words. Familiar matches include PULLING, PUBLISH, and POULTRY; less everyday finds include PHALANX and POLLARD. Just 15 of the 151 matches rank among common English words, so expect plenty of tournament vocabulary beyond familiar picks.

At a glance: the P–L pattern

• There are 151 tournament-dictionary words with P first and L fourth.
• PULLING, PUBLISH, and POLLING are recognizable examples among the matches.
• PHALANX leads the scoring list at 19 points.
• S is the most frequent final letter, appearing on 54 words; E follows with 22.
• Only 15 matches are common English words, a small share of this pattern.

Which P-and-L words score the most?

PHALANX tops the scoring examples at 19 points. PILLBOX follows at 18, while PADLOCK and PHYLLID each score 16. These stand out because their high-value letters do more work than the repeated low-value letters in words such as PILLARS or PILLOWS.

POLLOCK, POLLACK, POTLUCK, PAVLOVA, PAHLAVI, and PILLOCK each score 15 points. If you already have the pattern, check the remaining letters before choosing a play: a strong consonant combination can turn a difficult-looking word into a high scorer.

The average score across the matches is 11.1 points. That makes PHALANX an outlier, not a typical result; don’t assume every unfamiliar entry will carry a big score.

7-letter words with P as the 1st letter and L as the 4th letter

This exact pattern has 151 matches, fewer than the 267 words that start with S and put L fourth. Changing the fourth letter while keeping P first also shifts the count: P with T fourth has 293 matches, while P with K fourth has 101.

Final S is the strongest ending here, with 54 words; final E is next at 22. Those two endings account for many options, but examples such as PULLING, POLLARD, and PAYLOAD show the pattern also reaches other final letters.

Dictionary coverage is not identical: Collins includes 148 matches, NWL2023 includes 119, and ENABLE includes 110. The overall count includes words found in at least one of those lists, so check your game's word list before relying on a less familiar entry.