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

Every word on this page ends in Y, so the useful clue is the two letters before it. -LY closes 78 of the 180, -RY closes 41, and the three-letter endings -ILY, -ERY, -ITY and -IFY sort most of the rest. Read the suffix first and the stem follows.

The U-second, Y-last frame in numbers

• 180 words fit: Collins accepts 177, NWL2023 155, ENABLE 145.
• 15 are common, from QUALITY and QUICKLY to PUBERTY and DUALITY.
• -ILY ends 51 words, -ERY 29, -ITY 11 and -IFY 9.
• FUZZILY scores 31, MUZZILY 30 and QUARTZY 28; the average is 14.4.
• M opens 15 words, F and S open 14 each, and B opens 13.

Which -ILY adverbs fit, and which words are common?

-ILY is the dominant ending, and the adverbs it builds read naturally: LUCKILY, BULKILY, JUMPILY, PUFFILY, LUMPILY and SUNNILY. LUCKILY is the common one, while MUDDILY and RUDDILY are valid but rare.

The other common words come from a spread of endings: QUALITY, DUALITY, QUICKLY, QUIETLY, SURGERY, NURSERY, SUMMARY, CUSTODY, SUBSIDY, AUTOPSY, RUNAWAY, PUBERTY, QUALIFY and JUSTIFY.

When the clue is vague, test an -LY adverb first. 78 of the 180 end in -LY, which is more than two in five, and -RY and -TY follow.

What about -ERY, -ITY and -IFY?

-ERY gives SURGERY, NURSERY, CUTLERY, GUNNERY, RUBBERY and SUMMERY, among 29 words. -ITY brings QUALITY, DUALITY, NULLITY and SUAVITY, and -IFY brings QUALIFY, JUSTIFY, NULLIFY and MUMMIFY.

QUIVERY and QUAVERY score 22 each, which puts them above QUALITY and below QUICKLY. Several other -ERY words are plain nouns for trades or places, such as NUNNERY and CUTLERY.

How high can Scrabble scores go?

FUZZILY scores 31 and MUZZILY 30, both from a double Z. QUARTZY adds 28 for its Q and Z, and QUICKLY makes 25 from the Q and K.

QUEACHY and QUEECHY make 24 each but sit in Collins only. QUAKILY, at 23, is accepted by every major list.