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

Starting with UR gives a list that splits by its third letter. A is the busiest third letter, followed by E and then I, and each leads a distinct family of words. The scores run low, and the average is only 9, so the interest here is in the endings and in spotting stems.

UR words in brief

• Collins has 49 of the 51, NWL2023 has 37 and ENABLE has 34.
• Everyday words: URANIUM, URGENCY and URINARY.
• Top scores: URTEXTS and URTEXTE at 14, then URGENCY at 13 and URCHINS and URACHUS at 12.
• Last letters: S ends 19, E ends 14, M ends 4 and Y ends 3.
• Average score: 9 points.

Which URAN and URE words are there?

The URAN family has nine: URANIAS, URANIDE, URANISM, URANITE, URANOUS, URANYLS, URANINS, URANIAN and URANIUM. Only URANIUM is common, and URANIAN and URANINS are Collins-only. The British spellings URAEMIA and URAEMIC sit close by, and both are accepted by ENABLE, NWL2023 and Collins.

The URE family also has nine: UREASES, UREDIAL, UREDIUM, UREIDES, UREMIAS, UREDINE, URETHAN, URETHRA and URETERS. Nearly all are technical terms, so they are more likely to turn up in a word list than in a conversation. URETHRA and URETERS are the two with anatomical meanings.

Why does S end so many UR words?

Nineteen of the 51 end in S, which is more than a third. Plurals such as URCHINS, URACILS, URTEXTS, URINALS and URNINGS do most of the work.

E is next with 14, among them URALITE, URANIDE, URODELE and URNLIKE. M and Y close four and three words, with URANISM, UREDIUM, URGENCY and URINARY among them.

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