7-letter words with P as the 2nd letter and A as the 5th letter

The pattern _P__A__ has a striking first-letter tilt: U starts 38 matches, while S starts 17. Endings bunch up too, especially S and E. Familiar words such as APPEARS, OPERATE, and SPINACH share space with rarer plays, so the fixed letters narrow the search without making every answer obvious.

At a glance: words matching P second and A fifth

• There are 80 matches across the tournament dictionaries.
• U begins 38 words; S begins 17 and A begins 12.
• S closes 29 words, while E closes 19.
• Only 11 matches rank among the top 25,000 English words by frequency.
• EPITAXY leads the tile scores with 19 points.

Which starting and ending letters are most common?

U is the clear leader at the start, with words such as UPGRADE, UPSTATE, UPSCALE, and UPSTART. Its 38 matches outnumber the 17 beginning with S by more than two to one. When you have both fixed tiles but lack a first letter, test U before chasing rarer openings.

The endings are concentrated in two letters: S and E account for 48 words together. APPEARS and APPEALS finish with S; OPERATE and APPEASE finish with E. Y appears at the end of four matches, while A and N each appear twice.

7-letter words with P as the 2nd letter and A as the 5th letter: scores and play

EPITAXY is worth 19 tile points, followed by SPREAZE at 18 and APPEACH at 16. SPINACH and EPITAPH each score 14. Those totals are before board premiums, so placing a high-value letter on a bonus square can matter more than choosing the longest-looking word.

Seven tiles fill a standard Scrabble rack, and using all seven earns a 50-point bingo bonus. Yet just 11 matches are common, and 65 have definitions. Dictionary coverage also varies: Collins has 80 matches, NWL2023 has 55, and ENABLE has 53.

Check your game's word list before committing to an unfamiliar entry.