7-letter words with U as the 1st letter and D as the 3rd letter
There are 35 7-letter words with U as the 1st letter and D as the 3rd letter, and UNDOCKS, UPDIVED, UNDECKS and UNDEIFY lead at 14 points.
3 of 35 are everyday words (9%). Mostly rare words: great for Scrabble, tough for daily puzzles.
With U in 1st place, S is the most common 3rd letter (125 words). The bar under each letter shows the size of its list.
Best words to play first
- UPDATED11
- UPDATES10
- UNDERGO9
- UNDOING9
- UNDATED9
- UNDYING12
- UNDRESS8
- UPDRAFT13
- UPDATER10
- UNDRAWN11
- UNDINES8
- UNDERDO9
- UNDOCKS14
- UNDRUNK12
- UNDOERS8
- UNDRAPE10
- UDDERED10
- UNDREST8
- UNDRIED9
- UNDEAFS11
- UNDEALT8
- UNDECKS14
- UNDEIFY14
- UNDERNS8
- UNDIGHT12
- UNDRAWS11
- UNDULAR8
- UPDARTS10
- UPDIVED14
- UPDIVES13
- UPDRAGS11
- UPDRAWN13
- UPDRAWS13
- UPDRIED11
- UPDRIES10
All valid words 35
- UDDERED10
- UNDATED9
- UNDEAFS11
- UNDEALT8
- UNDECKS14
- UNDEIFY14
- UNDERDO9
- UNDERGO9
- UNDERNS8
- UNDIGHT12
- UNDINES8
- UNDOCKS14
- UNDOERS8
- UNDOING9
- UNDRAPE10
- UNDRAWN11
- UNDRAWS11
- UNDRESS8
- UNDREST8
- UNDRIED9
- UNDRUNK12
- UNDULAR8
- UNDYING12
- UPDARTS10
- UPDATED11
- UPDATER10
- UPDATES10
- UPDIVED14
- UPDIVES13
- UPDRAFT13
- UPDRAGS11
- UPDRAWN13
- UPDRAWS13
- UPDRIED11
- UPDRIES10
Highest-scoring words
| Word | Scrabble | Words With Friends | Dictionaries |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNDOCKS | 14 | 17 | All three |
| UPDIVED | 14 | 17 | All three |
| UNDECKS | 14 | 17 | Collins only |
| UNDEIFY | 14 | 15 | Collins only |
| UPDRAFT | 13 | 15 | All three |
| UPDIVES | 13 | 16 | All three |
| UPDRAWN | 13 | 16 | Collins only |
| UPDRAWS | 13 | 15 | Collins only |
| UNDYING | 12 | 15 | All three |
| UNDRUNK | 12 | 16 | All three |
| UNDIGHT | 12 | 14 | Collins only |
| UPDATED | 11 | 13 | All three |
The standout cluster is DR. Thirteen of the 35 words put R straight after the D, including UNDRAWN, UPDRAFT, UNDRESS and UPDRIES. UN- opens 22 words, UP- opens 12 and UDDERED stands alone; learn the DR group and you already hold more than a third of the pattern.
What follows the D?
- R follows with 13 words: UNDRAPE, UNDRAWN, UNDRESS, UNDRUNK, UPDRAFT, UPDRIED and more.
- E has 8, among them UNDERGO, UNDERDO, UNDEALT and UNDECKS.
- A has 5: UNDATED, UPDARTS, UPDATED, UPDATER and UPDATES.
- I has 4 (UNDINES, UPDIVED, UPDIVES, UNDIGHT), O has 3 and Y has 1, in UNDYING.
Which of the 35 words are common English?
Three: UPDATED, UPDATES and UNDERGO. UNDOING, UNDYING and UNDRESS are ordinary English as well, but they sit just outside the frequency cut-off for common words, so they rank as less familiar.
Everything else belongs to word lists. UNDERNS, UNDEAFS, UPDRAGS and UPDRAWN are Collins entries that most players never see in text. Treat them as rack-clearing options, not as words to build a game plan around.
Which words score the most, and which can you play?
Four words share the top score of 14. UNDOCKS and UPDIVED are accepted in ENABLE, NWL2023 and Collins. UNDECKS and UNDEIFY are Collins words, so they fail in North American games.
UPDRAFT scores 13 and is valid in all three lists, so it is the strongest dictionary-safe play. The average across the pattern is 10.6, so 13 is a strong score. The F and the T both fall in the back half of the word, so a letter-multiplier square there helps more than an early one.
Dictionary split
Collins takes all 35, NWL2023 takes 26 and ENABLE takes 25. Ten words fall outside ENABLE, among them UNDEAFS, UPDRAGS, UNDERNS and UNDIGHT, which is worth remembering before a North American game.
Questions people ask
How many 7-letter words start with U and have D as the third letter?
Which 7-letter words have U first and DR in the middle?
What is the best-scoring word with U first and D third?
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