5 letter words starting with E
E is the most common letter in English and one of the least common to start a word with: only 192 five letter words begin with it. E does its heavy lifting in the middle and at the end, not at the front.
192 words
·
Compiled and checked by 
Rhea Vance
Have the letters but not the word?
Why do so few five letter words start with E?
Because E is a vowel that mostly serves other letters. It softens a C or a G before it, it marks a long vowel at the end of a word, and it carries most English suffixes. Those are all jobs done inside a word, which leaves only 192 five letter words opening with it.
The full list
Alphabetical, grouped by second letter, which is usually the fastest way to find what you want.
EA words 16
- eager
- eagle
- eagre
- eared
- earls
- early
- earns
- earth
- eased
- easel
- eases
- easts
- eaten
- eater
- eaved
- eaves
EB words 4
- ebbed
- ebbet
- ebons
- ebony
EC words 5
- eched
- eches
- echos
- eclat
- ecrus
ED words 10
- edema
- edged
- edger
- edges
- edict
- edify
- edile
- edits
- educe
- educt
EE words 1
- eerie
EG words 7
- egads
- egers
- egest
- eggar
- egged
- egger
- egret
EI words 4
- eider
- eidos
- eight
- eikon
EJ words 1
- eject
EK words 1
- eking
EL words 19
- elain
- eland
- elans
- elate
- elbow
- elder
- elect
- elegy
- elemi
- elfin
- elide
- elint
- elite
- eloin
- elope
- elude
- elute
- elver
- elves
EM words 18
- embar
- embay
- embed
- ember
- embow
- emcee
- emeer
- emend
- emery
- emeus
- emirs
- emits
- emmer
- emmet
- emote
- empty
- emyde
- emyds
EN words 24
- enact
- enate
- ended
- ender
- endow
- endue
- enema
- enemy
- enjoy
- ennui
- enoki
- enols
- enorm
- enows
- enrol
- ensky
- ensue
- enter
- entia
- entry
- enure
- envoi
- envoy
- enzym
EO words 1
- eosin
EP words 10
- epact
- epees
- ephah
- ephas
- ephod
- ephor
- epics
- epoch
- epode
- epoxy
EQ words 3
- equal
- equid
- equip
ER words 14
- erase
- erect
- ergot
- erica
- ernes
- erode
- erose
- erred
- error
- erses
- eruct
- erugo
- erupt
- ervil
ES words 8
- escar
- escot
- eskar
- esker
- essay
- esses
- ester
- estop
ET words 10
- etape
- ether
- ethic
- ethos
- ethyl
- etnas
- etude
- etuis
- etwee
- etyma
EU words 1
- euros
EV words 9
- evade
- evens
- event
- evert
- every
- evict
- evils
- evite
- evoke
EW words 1
- ewers
EX words 19
- exact
- exalt
- exams
- excel
- execs
- exert
- exile
- exine
- exist
- exits
- exons
- expat
- expel
- expos
- extol
- extra
- exude
- exult
- exurb
EY words 6
- eyers
- eying
- eyras
- eyres
- eyrie
- eyrir
85 of these are common enough to be in everyday use. Turn on the filter above to hide the rest.
5 letter words starting with E that use one letter twice 102 words
E is the only opening letter on this site where the words repeating a character outnumber the ones that do not, 102 against 90. The cause is the E itself, which comes back in the middle or on the end far more readily than any other vowel returns to a word it opened: EAGLE, EERIE, EDGES, ELUDE and EMCEE all do it. A player who rules out doubles the moment the first square turns out to be an E has just ruled out the larger half of this page.
- eager
- eagle
- eagre
- eared
- eased
- easel
- eases
- easts
- eaten
- eater
- eaved
- eaves
- ebbed
- ebbet
- eched
- eches
- edema
- edged
- edger
- edges
- edile
- educe
- eerie
- egers
- egest
- eggar
- egged
- egger
- egret
- eider
- eject
- elate
- elder
- elect
- elegy
- elemi
- elide
- elite
- elope
- elude
- elute
- elver
- elves
- embed
- ember
- emcee
- emeer
- emend
- emery
- emeus
- emmer
- emmet
- emote
- emyde
- enate
- ended
- ender
- endue
- enema
- enemy
- ennui
- ensue
- enter
- enure
- epees
- ephah
- epode
- erase
- erect
- ernes
- erode
- erose
- erred
- error
- erses
- esker
- essay
- esses
- ester
- etape
- ether
- etude
- etwee
- evade
- evens
- event
- evert
- every
- evite
- evoke
- ewers
- excel
- execs
- exert
- exile
- exine
- expel
- exude
- eyers
- eyres
- eyrie
- eyrir
5 letter words starting with E whose second letter is a vowel as well 23 words
Two vowels straight out of the gate, which is a shape most solvers never think to try. An A in second place accounts for most of the group, EAGER, EARLY, EARTH, EASEL and EATEN among them, and what is left is short enough to learn outright: EIGHT, EIDER, EIDOS and EIKON, then EERIE, EOSIN and EUROS. Twenty three words, and confirming that second vowel narrows a grid to this column alone.
- eager
- eagle
- eagre
- eared
- earls
- early
- earns
- earth
- eased
- easel
- eases
- easts
- eaten
- eater
- eaved
- eaves
- eerie
- eider
- eidos
- eight
- eikon
- eosin
- euros
5 letter words starting with E and finishing on a T 27 words
A confirmed T in the final square is a strong hint here, because the same prefix keeps producing verbs of exactly this shape: EXACT, EXALT, EXERT, EXIST and EXULT are five of the twenty seven. The others are words a grid will accept without argument, EJECT, ELECT, ERECT, ERUPT, EVENT and EVICT, plus EIGHT and EGRET, which reached this list by completely different routes.
- ebbet
- eclat
- edict
- educt
- egest
- egret
- eight
- eject
- elect
- elint
- emmet
- enact
- epact
- erect
- ergot
- eruct
- erupt
- escot
- event
- evert
- evict
- exact
- exalt
- exert
- exist
- expat
- exult
5 letter words starting with E that carry an expensive tile 26 words
One word in seven here holds a J, a Q, an X or a Z, and that is the highest share of any letter which is not itself one of those four. The X does most of the work, since it is worth eight points and sits in EXACT, EXAMS, EXILE, EXITS, EXPEL, EXTRA and EXUDE. EQUIP and EQUAL bring the ten point Q, EJECT and ENJOY the J, and EPOXY and ENZYM finish it. An E is worth one point, so these are the words where it earns its square.
- eject
- enjoy
- enzym
- epoxy
- equal
- equid
- equip
- exact
- exalt
- exams
- excel
- execs
- exert
- exile
- exine
- exist
- exits
- exons
- expat
- expel
- expos
- extol
- extra
- exude
- exult
- exurb
5 letter words starting with E built mostly out of vowels 63 words
A third of this page spends three or more of its five squares on a vowel, which is exactly what makes an E word good for a jammed rack and poor as an opening guess. ERASE, EVADE, ELOPE, EVOKE and ETUDE are the everyday ones. EMEUS, ENURE, ETUIS and EYRIE are the ones to hold back for a board that has run out of consonants, and all four survive a challenge.
- eager
- eagle
- eagre
- eared
- eased
- easel
- eases
- eaten
- eater
- eaved
- eaves
- edema
- edile
- educe
- eerie
- eider
- eidos
- eikon
- elain
- elate
- elemi
- elide
- elite
- eloin
- elope
- elude
- elute
- emcee
- emeer
- emeus
- emote
- enate
- endue
- enema
- ennui
- enoki
- ensue
- entia
- enure
- envoi
- eosin
- epees
- epode
- equal
- equid
- equip
- erase
- erica
- erode
- erose
- erugo
- etape
- etude
- etuis
- etwee
- euros
- evade
- evite
- evoke
- exile
- exine
- exude
- eyrie
The ones that do exist are worth knowing because they are unusual: ENNUI, ENVOY, EMERY, ETHER, EVITE. EAGER, EAGLE and EERIE open with two vowels in a row, which is rare enough at five letters to be a genuine clue when you are solving.
85 of these are in everyday use. The words starting with E that survive in the dictionary are largely words people actually use, because there was never a flood of obscure ones to begin with.
Every word by its first letter
The whole dictionary sorted by the letter a word opens with, any length, with the short cuts and the game slices broken out underneath each list.
Words with a rare letter
Every word carrying one hard letter, at any position and any length, split into the lists people actually look for: the ones without a U, the short ones, and the ones that start, hide or end with it.
Other word lengths
The same complete list treatment for every length from 2 to 15 letters.
Five letter words by starting letter
Each letter has its own page with the full list and notes on how that letter behaves at five letters.