5 letter words starting with Q
Q starts just 53 five letter words and nearly every one of them puts a U straight after it. That single rule makes this the most predictable page on the site, and the shortest useful one to memorise.
53 words
·
Compiled and checked by 
Rhea Vance
Have the letters but not the word?
Do all five letter words starting with Q have a U?
In this dictionary, effectively yes. Q is followed by U in almost every English word because the pair entered the language together from Latin and French. The exceptions are borrowings from Arabic and Hebrew, and at five letters there are exactly three of them: QAIDS, QANAT and QOPHS.
The full list
Alphabetical, grouped by second letter, which is usually the fastest way to find what you want.
QA words 2
- qaids
- qanat
QO words 1
- qophs
QU words 50
- quack
- quads
- quaff
- quags
- quail
- quais
- quake
- quaky
- quale
- qualm
- quant
- quare
- quark
- quart
- quash
- quasi
- quass
- quate
- quays
- quean
- queen
- queer
- quell
- quern
- query
- quest
- queue
- queys
- quick
- quids
- quiet
- quiff
- quill
- quilt
- quins
- quint
- quips
- quipu
- quire
- quirk
- quirt
- quite
- quits
- quods
- quoin
- quoit
- quota
- quote
- quoth
- qursh
25 of these are common enough to be in everyday use. Turn on the filter above to hide the rest.
5 letter words starting with Q with no U after it 3 words
Three words, and this is the whole answer rather than a sample: QAIDS, QANAT and QOPHS. A QAID is a North African chief, a QANAT an underground irrigation channel from Persia, and a QOPH the nineteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. All three arrived in English from languages that never had the Latin habit of pairing the two letters, which is exactly why they break the rule the other fifty obey. Learning three words is the cheapest preparation available to a Scrabble player holding a Q and no U.
- qaids
- qanat
- qophs
5 letter words starting with Q that end in T 9 words
Nine words, and eight of them share the same two opening letters, so a confirmed T in the last square of a five letter Q word leaves almost no room to be wrong: QUANT, QUART, QUEST, QUIET, QUILT, QUINT, QUIRT and QUOIT. QANAT is the ninth and the odd one, since it takes no U at all. QUIET and QUEST are the two a daily grid is most likely to want.
- qanat
- quant
- quart
- quest
- quiet
- quilt
- quint
- quirt
- quoit
5 letter words starting with Q finishing in S 13 words
Thirteen words. QUIPS, QUITS, QUAYS, QUIDS and QUADS are the ordinary ones, and QAIDS and QOPHS are two of the three words on this page that manage without a U. QUASS is a fermented rye drink and the only entry whose S belongs to the word itself, so it cannot be pulled apart on a board the way the other twelve can. QUAGS, QUAIS, QUEYS, QUINS and QUODS complete the set.
- qaids
- qophs
- quads
- quags
- quais
- quass
- quays
- queys
- quids
- quins
- quips
- quits
- quods
5 letter words starting with Q with no letter repeated 43 words
Forty three of the fifty three, so a Q word almost always spends its five squares on five different characters. That is unusually high, and it comes from the shape of the letter itself: the U is already committed, which leaves three squares that have to carry the whole word and no room to waste one on a repeat. QUILT, QUOTA, QUERY, QUAKE and QUIRK are the strongest of them.
- qaids
- qophs
- quack
- quads
- quags
- quail
- quais
- quake
- quaky
- quale
- qualm
- quant
- quare
- quark
- quart
- quash
- quasi
- quate
- quays
- quean
- quern
- query
- quest
- queys
- quick
- quids
- quiet
- quilt
- quins
- quint
- quips
- quire
- quirk
- quirt
- quite
- quits
- quods
- quoin
- quoit
- quota
- quote
- quoth
- qursh
Every 5 letter word containing a Q 75 words
Seventy five words in the entire dictionary at this length, which makes this one of the few sections on the site that can honestly be called exhaustive. Twenty two of them do not start with the letter, and those are the ones worth memorising, because they are where a Q gets played onto a board that is already full: EQUIP, PIQUE, SQUAD, TOQUE, TUQUE, ROQUE, USQUE, FAQIR, FIQUE, MAQUI, AQUAS, TRANQ and UMIAQ among them.
Every word with a Q in it, at every length
- aquae
- aquas
- equal
- equid
- equip
- faqir
- fique
- maqui
- pique
- qaids
- qanat
- qophs
- quack
- quads
- quaff
- quags
- quail
- quais
- quake
- quaky
- quale
- qualm
- quant
- quare
- quark
- quart
- quash
- quasi
- quass
- quate
- quays
- quean
- queen
- queer
- quell
- quern
- query
- quest
- queue
- queys
- quick
- quids
- quiet
- quiff
- quill
- quilt
- quins
- quint
- quips
- quipu
- quire
- quirk
- quirt
- quite
- quits
- quods
- quoin
- quoit
- quota
- quote
- quoth
- qursh
- roque
- squab
- squad
- squat
- squaw
- squeg
- squib
- squid
- toque
- tranq
- tuque
- umiaq
- usque
With only 53 words to cover, this page is worth reading end to end: QUAIL, QUAKE, QUELL, QUEST, QUICK, QUIET, QUIRE, QUOTA, QUOTE. Nine of them and you have most of the list that a solver would ever plausibly guess.
Q is the highest scoring tile in most word games alongside Z, so a QU play at five letters is often the difference in a close game. 25 of these 53 words are in everyday use, close to half, which is unusually high for a letter this rare.
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.