7-letter words with U as the 1st letter and M as the 2nd letter

A UM opening is rare enough that the whole list fits on one screen. Eleven of the 21 begin UMB, which makes that trigram the first thing to test when you hold U and M in the first two squares. The rest split between UMP and a handful of one-off oddities.

UM words at a glance

• Total: 21 words, with Collins accepting 20, NWL2023 12 and ENABLE 11.
• Everyday word: UMPIRES is the only one that ranks among the top 25,000 English words.
• Top scorer: UMFAZIS at 21 points, then UMIACKS and UMWHILE at 15.
• Average score: 12 points per word.
• Most common last letter: S, which closes 9 of the 21.

Which 7-letter words start with UMB or UMP?

UMB is the big family, with UMBRAGE, UMBERED, UMBELED and UMBONIC among its eleven members. Six of those eleven continue with UMBR, including UMBRELS, UMBRILS, UMBROSE and UMBROUS.

UMP gives you UMPIRES, UMPIRED, UMPTEEN and UMPTIER. The remaining six words, UMFAZIS, UMIACKS, UMLAUTS, UMLUNGU, UMWELTS and UMWHILE, share nothing but their first two letters.

How useful are UM words in a real game?

Most of this list is obscure. Only UMPIRES, UMBRAGE and UMPTEEN will feel like normal English, and the other eighteen are strictly rack-clearing tools. You will rarely plan a turn around them, but one may rescue a rack of awkward tiles late in the game, when an open lane is hard to find.

Seven tiles played in one turn earn the 50-point Scrabble bingo bonus, which is why even UMBONAL can be worth hunting. Collins accepts 20 of the 21, but NWL2023 takes only 12, so check your game's word list before you commit a rare one.

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