7-letter words with U as the 1st letter and W as the 3rd letter
7-letter words with U as the 1st letter and W as the 3rd letter number 43, and 33 begin with UN, like UNWOUND and UNWRAPS.
1 of 43 are everyday words (2%). 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
- UPWARDS13
- UNWOUND11
- UNWINDS11
- UNWRAPS12
- UNWIRED11
- UNWAXED18
- UNWAGED12
- UNWRITE10
- UNWIPED13
- UNWEAVE13
- UNWRUNG11
- UNWORTH13
- UNWOVEN13
- UNWIVED14
- UNWOMAN12
- UNWHIPT15
- UNWITCH15
- UPWELLS12
- UMWELTS12
- UMWHILE15
- UNWAKED15
- UNWARES10
- UNWARIE10
- UNWATER10
- UNWAYED14
- UNWEALS10
- UNWEARY13
- UNWELDY14
- UNWHITE13
- UNWILLS10
- UNWIRES10
- UNWISER10
- UNWITTY13
- UNWIVES13
- UNWOOED11
- UNWORKS14
- UNWROTE10
- UPWAFTS15
- UPWHIRL15
- UPWINDS13
- UPWOUND13
- UPWRAPS14
- USWARDS11
All valid words 43
- UMWELTS12
- UMWHILE15
- UNWAGED12
- UNWAKED15
- UNWARES10
- UNWARIE10
- UNWATER10
- UNWAXED18
- UNWAYED14
- UNWEALS10
- UNWEARY13
- UNWEAVE13
- UNWELDY14
- UNWHIPT15
- UNWHITE13
- UNWILLS10
- UNWINDS11
- UNWIPED13
- UNWIRED11
- UNWIRES10
- UNWISER10
- UNWITCH15
- UNWITTY13
- UNWIVED14
- UNWIVES13
- UNWOMAN12
- UNWOOED11
- UNWORKS14
- UNWORTH13
- UNWOUND11
- UNWOVEN13
- UNWRAPS12
- UNWRITE10
- UNWROTE10
- UNWRUNG11
- UPWAFTS15
- UPWARDS13
- UPWELLS12
- UPWHIRL15
- UPWINDS13
- UPWOUND13
- UPWRAPS14
- USWARDS11
Highest-scoring words
| Word | Scrabble | Words With Friends | Dictionaries |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNWAXED | 18 | 20 | All three |
| UNWHIPT | 15 | 17 | Collins only |
| UNWITCH | 15 | 17 | Collins only |
| UPWAFTS | 15 | 17 | All three |
| UMWHILE | 15 | 17 | Collins only |
| UNWAKED | 15 | 17 | Collins only |
| UPWHIRL | 15 | 17 | Collins only |
| UNWIVED | 14 | 17 | Collins only |
| UNWAYED | 14 | 15 | Collins only |
| UNWELDY | 14 | 16 | Collins only |
| UNWORKS | 14 | 16 | Collins only |
| UPWRAPS | 14 | 17 | Collins only |
The shape is U-?-W-?-?-?-?, and the UN- prefix does most of the work. Take a verb that begins with W, add UN-, and you get UNWRAPS, UNWINDS or UNWAXED. A handful of UP- words and a few stranger Collins entries fill out the rest.
The U_W pattern at a glance
- Dictionary counts: Collins 43, NWL2023 16, ENABLE 15.
- Only UPWARDS is among the 25,000 most common English words.
- The average Scrabble score is 12.5, and UNWAXED tops it at 18.
- The commonest last letters are S with 15 words and D with 10.
- The six-letter version of this pattern has 26 words, fewer than the 43 here.
Why do so many of these words begin with UN?
UN- is the English prefix for reversing an action, and a W verb sits right behind it. That gives UNWRAPS, UNWINDS, UNWIRED, UNWIPED and UNWAGED, plus UNWOUND and UNWOVEN from the past forms of WIND and WEAVE.
The next letter splits the group. UNWI- leads with 10 words, UNWA- has 7 and UNWO- has 6, so the fourth letter is your best clue once the first three are fixed.
Words ending in -ED are the biggest family at 8: UNWAXED, UNWIRED, UNWIPED, UNWAKED and UNWAGED all qualify.
Which of these words are Collins only?
Collins takes all 43, but NWL2023 takes only 16. UNWIRED, UNWHIPT, UNWITCH, UNWOMAN, UPWHIRL, UMWELTS and UMWHILE are all Collins-only, so they fail in North American games.
UNWAXED, UNWOUND, UNWRAPS and UPWARDS are accepted by every list. Pick from those when you are unsure which dictionary your table uses. UNWAXED, for one, is a safe 18-point play anywhere.
Scoring tip
UNWAXED scores 18 because W is worth 4 and X is worth 8. UNWHIPT, UNWITCH and UMWHILE follow at 15, but only Collins accepts them.
Questions people ask
How many 7-letter words have U first and W third?
Which of these words score the most in Scrabble?
Is UPWARDS the only everyday word in this group?
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