7-letter words with T as the 2nd letter and M as the 5th letter

The fixed shape is _T__M__, with T in the second slot and M in the fifth. Familiar matches include ATTEMPT, STEAMER, and STORMED; PTARMIC and STUMMEL are less familiar options. The standout pattern is the heavy S opening: most matches start with that letter, but three other openings remain possible.

The pattern at a glance

• There are 29 matches, all seven letters long, with T second and M fifth.
• Twenty-five begin with S; A, O, and P account for the other openings.
• Six matches are common by the top-25,000 English-word frequency measure.
• Collins includes 27 matches, NWL2023 includes 19, and ENABLE includes 16.
• Twenty-four matches have definitions lexicon.

Which letters begin and end these words?

S dominates: 25 of the 29 matches start with it. ATTEMPT begins with A, OTTOMAN with O, and PTARMIC with P, so keep those less common openings in play when a crossing rules out S.

The endings are more varied than the openings. Eight matches finish with S, six with D, and five with R; STIGMAS, STEMMED, and STORMER show those three common endings. Four finish with L, including STROMAL.

That distribution gives you a practical solving order: test S first, then check the final letter against known crossings. A confirmed ending can narrow the remaining candidates without changing either fixed middle position.

What should you check before playing a match?

STEPMOM and PTARMIC each score 13 points on the listed letter-value scale, before any board premiums. STEMMED scores 12. A familiar word such as ATTEMPT scores 11, so the less obvious options have a small edge on raw tile value.

Dictionary coverage is not identical: Collins has 27 matches, compared with 19 in NWL2023 and 16 in ENABLE. The full set is not accepted everywhere, so check your game's word list before committing an unfamiliar entry.

For this exact clue, start with an S-shaped candidate such as STEAMER or STORMED, then use the crossing letters to test its other positions. If S is blocked, ATTEMPT, OTTOMAN, and PTARMIC provide the alternative starts.