7-letter words with U as the 2nd letter and U as the 6th letter

The second U sits right before the final letter, so this frame is really about two suffixes. -OUS and -FUL account for 33 of the 83 words, and -US alone ends 34. Learn those endings and only 50 loose entries remain, such as QUANTUM, FULCRUM and BUZZCUT.

The U-second, U-sixth frame in numbers

• Dictionary coverage runs Collins 81, NWL2023 66 and ENABLE 59.
• Everyday words number 11, including CURIOUS, QUANTUM, SURPLUS and TURNOUT.
• -US closes 34 words, -UL 17 and -UM 10.
• B opens 12 words, S 8 and F 7.
• BUZZCUT scores 29, QUAHAUG and QUIPPUS 20, and the average is 11.9.

Which suffixes cover most of the list?

-OUS gives 18 words. CURIOUS, FURIOUS and DUBIOUS are everyday adjectives, and BULBOUS and RUINOUS are easy to recognise.

-FUL adds 15, led by HURTFUL, with DUTIFUL, TUNEFUL and LUSTFUL below it. Several others are -SFUL plurals of measures, such as JUGSFUL and CUPSFUL, which are valid but unusual. The score for JUGSFUL is 18, so even those oddities pay.

What is unusual about the -UM and British-spelling words?

-UM words such as QUANTUM, FULCRUM, HUMDRUM, LUSTRUM and PUNCTUM look alike but come from different places. SUCCOUR and OUTPOUR share a British-style -OUR ending, and SUCCOR also exists in the American spelling. Both spellings are accepted by all three lists, which saves you a dictionary check.

BUZZCUT stands apart as the top scorer, with two Zs worth 10 points each. It is valid in NWL2023 and Collins but not in ENABLE, which makes it a game-specific play. QUANTUM at 18 is the safer big word, since all three lists accept it.

A tip for sorting by the last letter