7-letter words with R as the 3rd letter and V as the 5th letter

A fifth-place V is rare in English, and almost every word here is a verb in disguise. ARRIVE, DERIVE, STRIVE, THRIVE and SHRIVE each throw off three or four forms. That structure is why a surprising 10 of the 39 words are common English.

The __R_V__ frame at a glance

• 39 words fit, and 10 are common English.
• 33 have a definition; the average score is 11.9.
• S starts 15 words; A, T and U start 5 each.
• R and S end 8 words each, D and N end 7, and L ends 6.
• PYRUVIC scores 17, ahead of THRIVED on 14.

Which verbs generate the most forms?

STRIVE gives strives, strived, striven and striver. SHRIVE gives shrived, shriven, shroved and shriver, and THRIVE gives thrives and THRIVED. DERIVE gives DERIVED and derives, and ARRIVE gives ARRIVED, arrives and arriver.

That is 15 of the 39 words from five verbs. The nouns and adjectives fill much of the remainder: FOREVER, ARRIVAL, CARAVAN, UNRAVEL, UPRIVER and shrivel.

A fast test: if the clue is a verb and the word is not on these lists, it is probably not on the page.

What do the openers look like?

Four openers do the heavy lifting: SHR- gives 7 words, THR- gives 5, and UNR-, STR- and ARR- give 4 each. After those, no prefix stands out, so check the cluster before you think about the rest.

The endings split four ways. -VES has 8 words, -VER has 7, -VED has 7 and -VEN has 6, with -VEL at 4. That even spread makes the tense of the clue, not the letter count, your best guide.

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