7-letter words with P as the 1st letter and L as the 5th letter

The pattern is P _ _ _ L _ _, so the fifth letter is fixed while the other five slots vary. You get 146 matches across tournament dictionaries, but just 11 rank among the top 25,000 English words by frequency. Start with recognizable choices such as problem and popular; rarer entries matter more when you are solving a strict letter pattern.

At a glance: the P–L pattern

• 146 seven-letter matches begin with P and place L in slot five.
• Only 11 are common by the top-25,000 English-word frequency cutoff.
• Problem, popular, and penalty are familiar examples of the pattern.
• S, D, and R are the most frequent final letters, with 54, 33, and 22 words.
• Collins has 145 matches, compared with 106 in NWL2023 and 97 in ENABLE.

How do these seven-letter words end?

S leads by a clear margin: 54 matches end in S. D comes next with 33, followed by R with 22. That makes the final letter a useful extra filter once P and the fifth-position L are locked in.

The endings are not just a pile of plurals. Puzzles and pickles finish in S, while puzzled and pickled end in D; popular ends in R. If your crossing letters rule out S, try the D-ending group before assuming the pattern has no answer.

7-letter words with P first and L fifth

For a familiar starting point, try problem, popular, penalty, or peoples. The full set is much broader than everyday vocabulary: only 11 matches fall within the common-word frequency cutoff. Puzzles, pickles, and puddles show how easily the same letter frame supports different endings and word forms.

For tile scoring, puzzled leads at 28 points; puzzles, puzzler, and pizzles each score 27. Those are standout scores, not typical ones: the average is 11.7. Dictionary coverage also varies sharply, from 145 matches in Collins to 97 in ENABLE, so check your game's word list before relying on an unfamiliar entry.