5 letter words starting with O

5 letter words starting with O followed straight away by another vowel 35 words

Thirty five words put a vowel in the second square as well, which is close to a fifth of the page and far more than any consonant manages. OASIS, OATEN, OAKUM and OATHS take an A. OUNCE, OUSTS, OUTER and OUTGO take a U, and that pair is the one solvers forget: it looks foreign and it is not. OOZED, OOZES and OOMPH double the vowel outright, and OIDIA and OILED round the group off.

• oaken
• oakum
• oared
• oases
• oasis
• oasts
• oaten
• oater
• oaths
• oaves
• oidia
• oiled
• oiler
• oinks
• oohed
• oomph
• oorie
• ootid
• oozed
• oozes
• ought
• ounce
• ouphe
• ouphs
• ourie
• ousel
• ousts
• outby
• outdo
• outed
• outer
• outgo
• outre
• ouzel
• ouzos

5 letter words starting with O that are mostly vowels 76 words

Seventy six of the 181 spend three or more of their five squares on a vowel, which is why an O word so often rescues a rack drowning in them and so rarely makes a good opening guess. OCEAN, OLIVE, ORATE, OPERA and OZONE are the everyday ones. OBELI, OGIVE, OLEOS, OSIER and OVULE are the ones that turn a hopeless draw into a turn, and each is in the full list above.

• oaken
• oakum
• oared
• oases
• oasis
• oaten
• oater
• oaves
• obeah
• obeli
• obese
• obias
• oboes
• obole
• oboli
• ocean
• ocrea
• oculi
• odeon
• odeum
• odium
• odour
• ogees
• ogive
• ohias
• oidia
• oiled
• oiler
• okapi
• oldie
• oleic
• olein
• oleos
• oleum
• olios
• olive
• omasa
• omega
• onion
• onium
• oohed
• oorie
• ootid
• oozed
• oozes
• opera
• opine
• opium
• orate
• oread
• oribi
• oriel
• osier
• ossia
• ostia
• ounce
• ouphe
• ourie
• ousel
• outdo
• outed
• outer
• outgo
• outre
• ouzel
• ouzos
• ovate
• ovine
• ovoid
• ovoli
• ovolo
• ovule
• oxeye
• oxide
• oxime
• ozone

5 letter words starting with O and ending in R 21 words

Twenty one words, and most of them are comparatives or agents: OLDER, OTHER, OUTER, OWNER, OFFER, ORDER and OTTER. OCCUR is the only verb in the group. OATER, OCKER, OGLER, ORMER, OSIER, OXTER and OTTAR are the ones that decide a close game, because an opponent who has not read this section will assume at least two of them are made up.

• oater
• occur
• ocher
• ocker
• odder
• odour
• offer
• ofter
• ogler
• oiler
• older
• omber
• order
• ormer
• osier
• other
• ottar
• otter
• outer
• owner
• oxter

5 letter O words that hold a J, a Q, an X or a Z 15 words

Fifteen words, and the X supplies nearly all of them: OXIDE, OXIME, OXTER, OXLIP, OXBOW, OXEYE plus the plurals OXIDS and OXIMS. OZONE, OOZED, OOZES, ORZOS, OUZEL and OUZOS bring the ten point Z, and OBJET is the single entry with a J. There is no five letter word here with a Q. An O is worth one point, so this section is where the letter stops being cheap.

• objet
• oozed
• oozes
• orzos
• ouzel
• ouzos
• oxbow
• oxeye
• oxide
• oxids
• oxime
• oxims
• oxlip
• oxter
• ozone

5 letter words with an O anywhere in them 2,533 words

The much larger question, and one this page could not answer before: 2,533 five letter words carry an O somewhere, against the 181 that open with one. It is the second commonest vowel in the middle of a word after E, which is why ABOUT, HOUSE, MONEY, ROBOT and SHOOT feel so unremarkable while a word beginning with one feels unusual. Everything here is in the dictionary this site publishes, the openers included.

The complete five letter list, grouped by opening letter