7-letter words with U as the 2nd letter and F as the 5th letter

This small group is built on one suffix. Attach -FUL to a noun and you get HURTFUL, LUSTFUL, TUNEFUL or PUSHFUL, each with F in fifth place and U in second. Only a dozen words use anything else, and most of those are a double F plus S or D.

The 27 words in brief

• Dictionaries: 26 in Collins, 21 in NWL2023, 19 in ENABLE.
• Only LUCIFER and HURTFUL are common.
• The average score is 14.9, and QUAFFED and QUIFFED lead on 23.
• The last letter is L in 15 words, S in 5 and D in 3.
• Q opens 4 words, while T, R and L open 3 each.

Which words end in -FUL?

Fifteen do, more than half of the 27. Examples include HURTFUL, LUSTFUL, DUTIFUL, TUNEFUL, LUNGFUL, PUSHFUL, RUTHFUL, JUGSFUL and TUBEFUL.

Because the suffix is fixed, the real test is the noun in front. The fourth letter is O in 5 words, I in 4, and H or E in 4 each, so a guess at that slot narrows things quickly. HURTFUL, TUNEFUL and PUSHFUL show T, E and H in that slot.

What are the double-F words?

Five end in -FFS and three in -FED. CUTOFFS, RUNOFFS and BUYOFFS are the plural nouns, and QUAFFED is the verb form with the highest score.

QUIFFED also scores 23 but is valid only in NWL2023. QUAFFER adds 22, and TUBIFEX makes 19 on the strength of its X.

How many entries are risky?

Six of the 27 are missing from NWL2023: TUBEFUL, QUOIFED, DUREFUL, BUSHFLY, GUSTFUL and GUTSFUL. Collins accepts almost everything, while NWL2023 has 21.

JUGSFUL scores 18 and is valid in all three lists, which makes it the best -FUL play. HURTFUL, the common one, scores 13, so the common word is the lower-scoring choice in this family.