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

The pattern is _X___E_, and most matches start with E: 32 of the 36 begin that way. EXCITED, EXPOSED, and EXISTED are familiar examples; the rest include less common forms such as EXCIMER and EXHUMER. Use the fixed letters to narrow a rack or check a crossword; nine matches count as common English words.

The pattern at a glance

• 36 tournament-dictionary words have X in position two and E in position six.
• Collins accepts 35 entries, NWL2023 accepts 32, and ENABLE accepts 29.
• The first letter is E for 32 words, O for three, and I for one.
• The endings are D for 17 words, S for 11, and R for eight.

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

• The pattern EX___E_ covers 32 words; EXCITED, EXPOSED, and EXALTED show the dominant E opening.
• OXHIDES and IXNAYED are the only examples with O and I as their first letters.
• D leads the endings with 17 words, followed by 11 ending in S and eight ending in R; EXPIRED and EXPOSES illustrate the latter groups.

Why do nearly all of these words start with EX?

An X in second place almost forces an E in front of it, so 32 of the 36 matches open with EX, from EXALTED and EXACTED to EXULTED. Only three begin with O and one, IXNAYED, with I. The X also explains the 16.6 average score, since the tile is worth 8 in Scrabble and even a plain word like EXPOSED reaches 17.

Which matching words score highest in Scrabble?

• EXHUMED leads at 20 points; EXHUMES and EXHUMER score 19 each.
• EXHALED, EXCIMER, and IXNAYED score 18, while EXCITED and EXPOSED score 17; the average is 16.6.
• Collins accepts 35 words, compared with 32 in NWL2023; several entries are uncommon, so check your game's dictionary before playing one.