5 letter words starting with U

5 letter words starting with U that end in E 16 words

The last letter is the one a daily grid usually confirms first, and with both ends fixed a five letter answer rarely needs another guess. UNCLE, UNITE, UNTIE, USAGE and URINE are already in your vocabulary. UKASE, URATE, URASE and USQUE sit further down the same list and every one of them is legal. The E on the end does nothing you can hear: it is a spelling habit English kept from French.

• ukase
• ulnae
• uncle
• undee
• undue
• unite
• untie
• upbye
• urare
• urase
• urate
• urine
• ursae
• usage
• usque
• utile

5 letter words starting with U that end in S 14 words

Most of these are plurals with the S bolted on, UNITS, USERS, UREAS, UVEAS and ULNAS among them, and in a tile game that matters, because a plural S can be hooked onto a word already sitting on the board. UNCUS is the exception worth remembering: its S belongs to the word and cannot be pulled off. URGES is the only entry here that works as a verb as readily as a noun.

• ulans
• ulnas
• ulvas
• umbos
• unais
• unaus
• uncos
• uncus
• units
• updos
• ureas
• urges
• users
• uveas

5 letter words starting with U that end in Y 8 words

A confirmed Y in the last position is the most useful thing a puzzle can tell you about a word this shape, because it rules out every plural and nearly every verb at once. UNIFY, UNITY and USURY are the three anybody would reach for. UNARY, UNCOY, UNLAY, UNSAY and UPDRY are the whole of the remainder, so this is the complete answer rather than a selection from it.

• unary
• uncoy
• unify
• unity
• unlay
• unsay
• updry
• usury

5 letter words starting with U with no repeated letters 91 words

Five different characters, which is what makes a word worth spending an opening guess on: every slot tests a new idea instead of confirming one you already hold. USHER, UNTIL, ULCER, URBAN and UNDER are the strongest of them, because each spends four of its five letters on characters that turn up in thousands of other answers. Anything that repeats a letter is in the main list above and not here.

• uhlan
• ukase
• ulans
• ulcer
• ulema
• ulnad
• ulnae
• ulnar
• ulnas
• ulpan
• ultra
• ulvas
• umbel
• umber
• umbos
• umbra
• umiac
• umiak
• umiaq
• umped
• unais
• unapt
• unarm
• unary
• unbar
• unbid
• unbox
• uncap
• uncia
• uncle
• uncos
• uncoy
• under
• unfed
• unfit
• unfix
• ungot
• unhat
• unhip
• unify
• unite
• units
• unity
• unlay
• unled
• unlet
• unlit
• unmet
• unmew
• unmix
• unpeg
• unrig
• unrip
• unsay
• unset
• unsew
• unsex
• untie
• until
• unwed
• unwit
• unzip
• upbow
• upbye
• updos
• updry
• upend
• uplit
• upset
• uraei
• urase
• urate
• urban
• urbia
• ureal
• ureas
• uredo
• ureic
• urged
• urges
• urial
• urine
• ursae
• usage
• usher
• using
• usnea
• uteri
• utile
• uveal
• uveas

The highest scoring 5 letter words starting with U 9 words

Scored on the Scrabble tile values and sorted by what they are worth, with the points printed beside each word. UMIAQ and UNZIP tie at the top on sixteen, because a Q and a Z are ten points apiece and the four letters around them cost almost nothing. UNFIX takes fifteen and UNBOX, UNMIX and USQUE fourteen. Every one of them appears in the main list as well.

• umiaq 16
• unzip 16
• unfix 15
• unbox 14
• unmix 14
• usque 14
• unsex 12
• upbow 12
• upbye 12

5 letter words with U anywhere in the word 1,596 words

A different question from the rest of this page and the one people most often arrive here asking: not the words that open with the letter, but every five letter word carrying one at all. It lands in second position far more often than anywhere else, which is why QUICK, MUSIC and HUMAN feel so ordinary while a word beginning with it feels rare. Only twenty five end in one. All of them are here, the openers included.

The complete five letter word list, grouped by opening letter