7-letter words with S as the 1st letter and X as the 3rd letter

The pattern is S_X____: keep S in front and X in slot three, then vary the remaining five letters. SIXTEEN and SIXTIES are recognizable entries, while SEXTANT and SAXHORN are less familiar. Only 3 of the 26 entries rank among the most common English words, so a match is more likely to reward a precise board fit than everyday vocabulary.

At a glance

• 26 seven-letter matches have S in position one and X in position three.
• Collins includes 24; NWL2023 includes 20; ENABLE includes 17.
• Only 3 entries meet the common-word frequency cutoff.
• 11 entries end in S, 4 end in T, and 3 end in N.

How unusual is X in the third position?

Only 26 seven-letter words start with S and place X third. By comparison, the same pattern with A in the third slot has 633 matches, making X a sharply restrictive clue.

The endings offer another way to narrow the search: 11 words finish with S, including SIXTIES and SEXTETS. Four finish with T, as in SEXTANT, while SIXTEEN is one of the 3 that end in N.

Which entries carry the biggest tile scores?

SIXTHLY leads the scoring list at 20 points, ahead of SIXFOLD at 18. SAXHORN and SEXFOIL each score 17, and four more words score 16, including SAXTUBA.

When you have a choice, compare the whole play rather than chasing a high face-value total. SIXTHLY and SIXFOLD are strong candidates when their letters fit your rack and the board, but a shorter placement can score more through its position.

Check the word list for your game

The 26 matches come from words found in at least one tournament dictionary, not a promise that every game accepts every entry. Collins contains 24 of them, compared with 20 in NWL2023 and 17 in ENABLE.

That gap matters most for less familiar choices such as SAXHORN or SEXFOIL. Check your game's word list before committing an unusual entry; a pattern match alone does not establish that a word is playable there.