5 letter words starting with K

5 letter words that open and close on a K 10 words

Ten words, and the complete set. KAYAK reads the same backwards as forwards, the only five letter palindrome that starts with this letter, and KAIAK is the alternative spelling that scores identically. KNACK and KNOCK put a silent K at the front and a sounded one at the back. KAPOK, KIOSK, KOPEK and KULAK are the borrowings, KAMIK is a sealskin boot and KYACK a pack saddle, and all ten are legal.

• kaiak
• kamik
• kapok
• kayak
• kiosk
• knack
• knock
• kopek
• kulak
• kyack

5 letter words starting with K that end in I 9 words

An I on the end is not an English habit, so every one of these nine arrived from somewhere else and kept its spelling: KANJI and KIBEI from Japanese, KHAKI, KHADI and KUKRI from the subcontinent, KAURI and KORAI from further east again, KIBBI from Arabic and KRUBI from Malay. Nine words is a small enough set to memorise, and the payoff is that a confirmed I in the last square of a K word leaves you nothing else to consider.

• kanji
• kauri
• khadi
• khaki
• kibbi
• kibei
• korai
• krubi
• kukri

The 5 letter K words that score 15 or better 25 words

A K is five points, more than any letter outside the four expensive ones, so it needs less help from its neighbours than most consonants do. KUDZU and KYLIX lead on nineteen, KAZOO, KICKY, KLUTZ, KOPJE and KYACK follow on eighteen, and KHAPH takes seventeen. Twenty five words clear the bar in all, and the score is printed next to each of them.

• kudzu 19
• kylix 19
• kazoo 18
• kicky 18
• klutz 18
• kopje 18
• kyack 18
• khaph 17
• kanji 16
• kayak 16
• kexes 16
• khaki 16
• kinky 16
• kooky 16
• kyaks 16
• kamik 15
• kapok 15
• kecks 15
• khafs 15
• kheth 15
• kicks 15
• knack 15
• knock 15
• kopek 15
• kythe 15

5 letter words starting with K and no letter twice 114 words

A shade over half the page, 114 words, gets through all five squares without reusing a character. On a letter this awkward that is the group to guess from, because a K already narrows the answer hard and a repeat throws away one of the four squares left. KNIFE, KRAUT, KEMPT, KIANG and KARST are the picks. KIOSK, KAYAK and KNACK are not here and cannot be, since each of them spends two squares on the K.

• kadis
• kafir
• kagus
• kaifs
• kails
• kains
• kales
• kalif
• kames
• kanes
• kanji
• kaons
• kaphs
• kaput
• karns
• karst
• karts
• kauri
• kaury
• kayos
• kbars
• kebar
• kefir
• keirs
• kelim
• kelps
• kelpy
• kemps
• kempt
• kenaf
• kench
• kendo
• kenos
• kepis
• kerbs
• kerfs
• kerns
• ketch
• ketol
• kevil
• khadi
• khafs
• khans
• khats
• kheda
• khets
• khoum
• kiang
• kibes
• kibla
• kiefs
• kiers
• kilns
• kilos
• kilts
• kilty
• kinas
• kinds
• kines
• kings
• kinos
• kirns
• kited
• kiter
• kites
• kithe
• kiths
• kivas
• klong
• kluge
• klutz
• knaps
• knars
• knaur
• knave
• knead
• knelt
• knife
• knish
• knits
• knobs
• knops
• knosp
• knots
• knout
• knows
• knurl
• knurs
• koans
• koels
• kohls
• koine
• kolas
• kophs
• kopje
• korai
• korat
• korun
• kraft
• krait
• kraut
• krona
• krone
• krubi
• kudos
• kugel
• kumys
• kurta
• kyars
• kyats
• kylix
• kyrie
• kytes
• kythe

5 letter words carrying a K somewhere other than the front 679 words

Three and a half times the size of the page above it: 679 five letter words hold a K that is not the opening character. Most sit at the very end, where the letter is at its most productive in English, as in BLACK, DRINK, SPARK, THINK and TRUCK. A K in the middle is scarcer and usually means the word came from elsewhere, the way BATIK, BIKIE and BOSKY did.