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7-letter words with U as the 1st letter and L as the 3rd letter

50 7-letter words have U as the 1st letter and L as the 3rd letter, and UNLUCKY leads with 16 points.

50 wordsTop pick UNLUCKYHighest score UNLUCKY 16

3 of 50 are everyday words (6%). 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.

  • Length
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Best words to play first 50 · most-used first

  • UNLUCKY16
  • UNLEASH10
  • UPLOADS10
  • UGLIEST8
  • UNLOCKS13
  • UNLOVED11
  • UPLANDS10
  • UNLEARN7
  • UNLOADS8
  • UNLINED8
  • UPLIFTS12
  • UNLADEN8
  • UPLINKS13
  • UNLIKED12
  • UNLATCH12
  • UNLIVED11
  • UMLAUTS9
  • UNLACED10
  • UNLEVEL10
  • UNLOOSE7
  • UGLYING12
  • UNLIKES11
  • UNLINKS11
  • ULLINGS8
  • UILLEAN7
  • ULLAGED9
  • ULLAGES8
  • UMLUNGU10
  • UNLACES9
  • UNLADED9
  • UNLADES8
  • UNLASTE7
  • UNLAWED11
  • UNLEADS8
  • UNLIMED10
  • UNLIMES9
  • UNLINES7
  • UNLIVES10
  • UNLOBED10
  • UNLORDS8
  • UNLOVES10
  • UPLEADS10
  • UPLEANS9
  • UPLEANT9
  • UPLEAPS11
  • UPLEAPT11
  • UPLIGHT13
  • UPLOCKS15

Showing the top 48 of 50 words. See every valid word

All valid words 50

A to Z. Includes rare and Collins-only words. Linked tiles open the word's meaning, score and rhymes.

  • UGLIEST8
  • UGLYING12
  • UILLEAN7
  • ULLAGED9
  • ULLAGES8
  • ULLINGS8
  • UMLAUTS9
  • UMLUNGU10
  • UNLACED10
  • UNLACES9
  • UNLADED9
  • UNLADEN8
  • UNLADES8
  • UNLASTE7
  • UNLATCH12
  • UNLAWED11
  • UNLEADS8
  • UNLEARN7
  • UNLEASH10
  • UNLEVEL10
  • UNLIKED12
  • UNLIKES11
  • UNLIMED10
  • UNLIMES9
  • UNLINED8
  • UNLINES7
  • UNLINKS11
  • UNLIVED11
  • UNLIVES10
  • UNLOADS8
  • UNLOBED10
  • UNLOCKS13
  • UNLOOSE7
  • UNLORDS8
  • UNLOVED11
  • UNLOVES10
  • UNLUCKY16
  • UPLANDS10
  • UPLEADS10
  • UPLEANS9
  • UPLEANT9
  • UPLEAPS11
  • UPLEAPT11
  • UPLIFTS12
  • UPLIGHT13
  • UPLINKS13
  • UPLOADS10
  • UPLOCKS15
  • UPLOOKS13
  • UPLYING13
Letters by positionIn 58% of these words the 2nd letter is N.
2nd letter
  1. N58%
  2. P26%
  3. L6%
4th letter
  1. I28%
  2. A24%
  3. O20%
5th letter
  1. A20%
  2. N14%
  3. C10%
6th letter
  1. E40%
  2. D12%
  3. K12%
7th letter
  1. S48%
  2. D20%
  3. T8%

Highest-scoring words

Scrabble and Words With Friends points, before board bonuses
Score spreadMost of these words score 10 in Scrabble; UNLUCKY tops the list with 16. Scores before board bonuses.
  1. 77 points: 5 words
  2. 8 points: 9 words
  3. 99 points: 7 words
  4. 10 points: 11 words
  5. 1111 points: 7 words
  6. 12 points: 4 words
  7. 1313 points: 5 words
  8. 14 points: 0 words
  9. 1515 points: 1 words
  10. 16 points: 1 words
WordScrabbleWords With FriendsDictionaries
UNLUCKY1620All three
UPLOCKS1519Collins only
UNLOCKS1317All three
UPLINKS1317All three
UPLIGHT1316All three
UPLOOKS1316Collins only
UPLYING1317Collins only
UPLIFTS1215All three
UNLIKED1215Collins · NWL
UNLATCH1215All three
UGLYING1216Collins only
UNLOVED1115All three

Two openings carry the list: UNL- with 29 words and UPL- with 13. The other eight come from ULL-, UGL-, UML- and UIL-. UNLUCKY, UNLEASH and UPLOADS are the common words, and the endings lean heavily on S (24 words) and D (10 words).

Pattern facts for U _ L _ _ _ _

  • Dictionary reach: 31 words in ENABLE, 32 in NWL2023, all 50 in Collins.
  • UNLUCKY scores 16, UPLOCKS 15, and UPLIGHT, UPLINKS, UPLOOKS and UPLYING 13.
  • -ED closes 10 words, -ES closes 8 and -DS closes 6.
  • Fourth letter: I in 14 words, A in 12, O in 10 and E in 9.

Which UNL- and UPL- families are largest?

Among the UNL- words, UNLI- has 9, UNLA- has 8, UNLO- has 7 and UNLE- has 4. UNLIKED, UNLINKS, UNLIVED, UNLOVED, UNLACED and UNLADEN are typical.

UPL- has UPLE- with 5 words (UPLEAPS, UPLEAPT, UPLEADS, UPLEANS, UPLEANT), UPLO- with 3 and UPLI- with 3. UPLANDS, UPLIFTS and UPLOADS are the everyday ones.

The short openings are small: ULL- gives ULLAGED, ULLAGES and ULLINGS, UGL- gives UGLIEST and UGLYING, and UML- gives UMLAUTS and UMLUNGU. UILLEAN stands alone.

What are the best-scoring words?

UNLUCKY makes 16, thanks to the C, the K and the Y. UPLOCKS makes 15, UPLIGHT, UPLINKS, UPLOOKS and UPLYING make 13, and UNLATCH, UPLIFTS and UGLYING make 12.

UNLUCKY, UPLIGHT and UPLINKS are valid in Collins, NWL2023 and ENABLE. UPLOCKS, UPLOOKS, UPLYING and UGLYING are Collins-only.

The average score is 10, so UNLUCKY clears it by six. UNLEASH, UNLATCH and UPLOADS are modest by comparison but easy to build from common letters. UPLOADS also works as a safe filler when the rack is awkward.

Collins-only words

Note

Eighteen words are valid in Collins and in neither NWL2023 nor ENABLE, such as UPLOCKS, UNLIMED, UNLORDS and UPLEANT. That is over a third of the 50, so verify before you play.

Questions people ask

How many 7-letter words start with U and have L as the third letter?
There are 50. Collins accepts all 50, NWL2023 accepts 32 and ENABLE accepts 31. The opening UNL- covers 29 of them, UPL- covers 13, and ULL- covers 3.
What are the common 7-letter words with U first and L third?
UNLUCKY, UNLEASH and UPLOADS rank as common. UNLUCKY scores 16 points, the most in the pattern, and UNLEASH and UPLOADS both score 10. All three are valid in every major dictionary.
Which words in this pattern end in -ED?
Ten end in -ED, among them UNLIKED, UNLIVED, UNLOVED, UNLACED, UNLADED, UNLOBED, UNLINED and ULLAGED. UNLAWED and UNLIMED are Collins-only, so expect those to be rejected in NWL2023 games.

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