7-letter words with X as the 3rd letter and E as the 5th letter

This is a narrow letter combination: only four matches rank among the top 25,000 English words by frequency. ANXIETY and SIXTEEN appear alongside less familiar examples such as WAXWEED and BAXTERS. The pattern fixes X in slot three and E in slot five, leaving the first, second, fourth, sixth, and final letters open.

The pattern at a glance

• There are 21 qualifying words across the tournament dictionaries.
• Collins includes all 21 matches; NWL2023 includes 17.
• ENABLE has 12 matches, fewer than either other dictionary.
• The most common final letters are T, with nine words, and S, with eight.
• Only four matches rank among the top 25,000 English words by frequency.

How many 7-letter words fit X-third, E-fifth?

Exactly 21 words meet the full pattern. ANXIETY, SIXTEEN, and MAXWELL show how different the opening letters can be while X and E stay fixed in their positions. SIXTEEN ends in N, but most matches finish with T or S.

The final-letter split is unusually concentrated: nine words end in T and eight end in S. Examples include FOXIEST among the T endings and BAXTERS among the S endings. That leaves just four words ending in D, L, N, or Y combined.

Dictionary coverage changes the usable pool. Collins accepts all 21 entries, while NWL2023 has 17 and ENABLE has 12. The union count therefore does not guarantee that every word is playable in your chosen game.

• ANXIETY, SIXTEEN, and MAXWELL all fit the fixed X-and-E positions.
• FOXIEST ends in T; BAXTERS ends in S.
• Collins has 21 matches, compared with 17 in NWL2023 and 12 in ENABLE.

Which X-and-E matches score highest?

• WAXWEED leads at 21 points, ahead of MAXWELL at 19.
• ANXIETY, FOXIEST, and WAXIEST each score 17 points.
• BAXTERS, COXLESS, and POXIEST each score 16 points.
• The pattern has 21 matches, compared with 23 for X in the third slot and I in the fifth.