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

With M locked at the end, the frame _ U _ _ _ _ M is a list of tails: -UM, -ISM, -ORM, -OOM and -RUM. Ten words end in -UM alone. Add the odd verb forms OUTSWIM, OUTSWAM and OUTSWUM and the list becomes easy to recognise.

The U-M list in brief

• O opens 4 words, S opens 4, and B, D and G open 3 each.
• Collins accepts all 33, NWL2023 accepts 29 and ENABLE accepts 26.
• JUJUISM scores 23, QUONDAM 19 and QUANTUM 18.
• QUANTUM is the only common word in the group.

Which endings are worth memorising?

-UM is the biggest tail with 10 words: QUANTUM, FULCRUM, HUMDRUM, LUSTRUM, PUNCTUM and JUGULUM. Then four endings tie or trail: -ISM and -ORM have 4 words each, and -OOM and -RUM have 3 each.

The -ISM group is DUALISM, CULTISM, JUJUISM and GURUISM. The -ORM group is BUDWORM, LUGWORM, CUTWORM and AUSFORM, and the -OOM group is MUDROOM, GUNROOM and SUNROOM.

Seven words fall outside ENABLE: DUBNIUM, PUNCTUM and AUTONYM are in NWL2023 and Collins, while BUCKSOM, HUMMAUM, GURUDOM and GURUISM are Collins-only. Everything else, including QUANTUM, FULCRUM and SUNBEAM, plays in all three.

Why does OUTSWUM count as a word?

OUTSWIM means to swim farther than someone else, and its past forms are OUTSWAM and OUTSWUM. All three fit the frame, and all three are accepted in Collins, NWL2023 and ENABLE.

OUTBEAM is another OUT- find. Together with the three swim forms, that makes four OUT- words, which accounts for every one of the 4 words that O opens. If your rack holds O, U, T and an M, this is the first place to look.

Scoring tip