7-letter words with W as the 1st letter and L as the 6th letter

The pattern is W _ _ _ _ L _, and 82 seven-letter words fit it in at least one tournament dictionary. Familiar catches include WHISTLE, WRESTLE, WRINKLE, and WRANGLE; less familiar entries sit beside them. Since only the sixth position is fixed after W, keep the four middle spaces open while checking a clue.

The pattern at a glance

• 82 entries match W _ _ _ _ L _ in at least one tournament dictionary.
• WHISTLE, WRESTLE, and WRINKLE are recognizable examples in the set.
• Only 5 entries meet the common-word frequency cutoff.
• WOOZILY and WHAIZLE lead the scoring list at 22 points each.

Which words make the pattern easier to spot?

WHISTLE, WRESTLE, and WHITTLE share a clear ending: L followed by E. WRINKLE and WRIGGLE show the same final pair, with different letters filling the middle. These examples make the fixed sixth position easier to check without assuming every match will look familiar.

Endings split sharply: 28 matches end in E, 24 in Y, and 14 in S. Together, those three endings account for 66 entries. Just 6 end in L, so a candidate with L as its final letter is possible, but much less typical.

W is a relatively restrictive first letter for this pattern: the S-first version has 293 matches, and the P-first version has 172. If your clue leaves the first letter uncertain, testing those alternatives opens a much larger pool.

• WRIGGLE ends in E.
• WRONGLY ends in Y.
• WEASELS ends in S.

How do 7-letter words with W first and L sixth score?

Scrabble scores favor unusual letter combinations: WOOZILY and WHAIZLE each score 22, while WHIFFLE scores 19. The average score across the matches is 14.2, so an obscure candidate can outscore a familiar word on the rack.

Dictionary coverage varies: Collins includes 80 matches, NWL2023 includes 57, and ENABLE includes 52. A word accepted in one list may not be playable in another, so check your game's dictionary before committing a rare form.

For 7-letter words with W first and L sixth, the main limitation is familiarity: only 5 entries meet the common-word cutoff, and 49 have definitions. WHISTLE and WRINKLE are safer starting points for recognition; the rest need closer checking.

• WOOZILY scores 22.
• WHAIZLE also scores 22.
• WHIFFLE scores 19.