5 letter words starting with X
X starts only 13 five letter words, the shortest list on the entire site. You can read every one of them in the time it takes to lose a turn, and doing so is genuinely worth it: X is one of the highest scoring tiles in every word game.
13 words
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Compiled and checked by 
Rhea Vance
Have the letters but not the word?
What are the five letter words that start with X?
All 13 of them: XEBEC, XENIA, XENIC, XENON, XERIC, XEROX, XERUS, XYLAN, XYLEM, XYLOL, XYLYL, XYSTI and XYSTS. Every one takes an E or a Y as its second letter, which is the whole rule for this letter at this length.
The full list
Alphabetical, grouped by second letter, which is usually the fastest way to find what you want.
XE words 7
- xebec
- xenia
- xenic
- xenon
- xeric
- xerox
- xerus
XY words 6
- xylan
- xylem
- xylol
- xylyl
- xysti
- xysts
3 of these are common enough to be in everyday use. Turn on the filter above to hide the rest.
5 letter words starting with X that end in C 3 words
Three words: XEBEC, XENIC and XERIC. A XEBEC is a small three masted Mediterranean ship, XENIC describes a culture grown with unidentified organisms in it, and XERIC means dry. All three open with the same two letters and all three are legal, which makes a five letter grid with an X at one end and a C at the other a three way guess at worst.
- xebec
- xenic
- xeric
5 letter words starting with X with five separate letters 7 words
Seven of the thirteen: XENIA, XENIC, XERIC, XERUS, XYLAN, XYLEM and XYSTI. A XERUS is an African ground squirrel and XYSTI are covered porticos, so this half of the page is Greek almost from end to end. Because the X is worth eight and the letters around it are cheap, these are the seven words on the site where a single opening square carries most of the score.
- xenia
- xenic
- xeric
- xerus
- xylan
- xylem
- xysti
5 letter words starting with X that use a letter twice 6 words
The other six, and with the seven above them that is the whole page accounted for: XEBEC, XENON, XEROX, XYLOL, XYLYL and XYSTS. XEROX and XYLYL are the pair worth remembering, because each spends two squares on an expensive letter, the second X in one and the second Y in the other. XYLOL is a coal tar solvent and XYLYL the chemical group it comes from.
- xebec
- xenon
- xerox
- xylol
- xylyl
- xysts
The 5 letter X words that score at least 15 8 words
Eight of the thirteen clear fifteen points, which is a proportion no other letter comes close to, and the reason is simply that the X is worth eight before anything else is counted. XEROX leads on nineteen because it uses two of them. XYLYL takes eighteen, XYLEM seventeen and XEBEC sixteen, then XYLAN, XYLOL, XYSTI and XYSTS tie on fifteen. The score is printed next to each word.
- xerox 19
- xylyl 18
- xylem 17
- xebec 16
- xylan 15
- xylol 15
- xysti 15
- xysts 15
5 letter words with an X that is not the opening letter 189 words
This is the section that matters, and it is fifteen times the size of the page above it: 189 five letter words carry an X somewhere other than the front, against thirteen that start with one. The letter is happiest at the end, as in RELAX, INDEX, LATEX and PROXY, and comfortable in the middle, as in AXIOM, TOXIC and BOXER. If you are holding an X and looking for a play, read this list rather than the one at the top of the page.
- addax
- admix
- affix
- annex
- ataxy
- auxin
- axels
- axial
- axile
- axils
- axing
- axiom
- axion
- axite
- axled
- axles
- axman
- axmen
- axone
- axons
- beaux
- bemix
- borax
- boxed
- boxer
- boxes
- braxy
- buxom
- calix
- calyx
- carex
- cimex
- codex
- comix
- coxae
- coxal
- coxed
- coxes
- culex
- cylix
- deoxy
- desex
- detox
- dewax
- dexes
- dexie
- dixit
- doxie
- epoxy
- exact
- exalt
- exams
- excel
- execs
- exert
- exile
- exine
- exist
- exits
- exons
- expat
- expel
- expos
- extol
- extra
- exude
- exult
- exurb
- faxed
- faxes
- fixed
- fixer
- fixes
- fixit
- flaxy
- foxed
- foxes
- galax
- goxes
- hapax
- helix
- hexad
- hexed
- hexer
- hexes
- hexyl
- hyrax
- immix
- index
- infix
- ixias
- ixora
- ixtle
- kexes
- kylix
- latex
- laxer
- laxly
- lexes
- lexis
- loxed
- loxes
- luxes
- maxes
- maxim
- maxis
- mirex
- mixed
- mixer
- mixes
- mixup
- moxas
- moxie
- murex
- nexus
- nixed
- nixes
- nixie
- oxbow
- oxeye
- oxide
- oxids
- oxime
- oxims
- oxlip
- oxter
- paxes
- phlox
- pixel
- pixes
- pixie
- poxed
- poxes
- prexy
- proxy
- pyxes
- pyxie
- pyxis
- radix
- raxed
- raxes
- redox
- redux
- refix
- relax
- remex
- remix
- retax
- rewax
- rexes
- saxes
- sexed
- sexes
- sexto
- sexts
- silex
- sixes
- sixmo
- sixte
- sixth
- sixty
- taxed
- taxer
- taxes
- taxis
- taxon
- taxus
- telex
- texas
- texts
- toxic
- toxin
- tuxes
- twixt
- unbox
- unfix
- unmix
- unsex
- varix
- vexed
- vexer
- vexes
- vexil
- vixen
- waxed
- waxen
- waxer
- waxes
- zaxes
The pattern is absolute here: XE or XY, nothing else. XENON and XEROX are the two most people know, XYLEM turns up in school biology, and the rest are Greek borrowings that survive in the dictionary because nothing replaced them.
Only 3 of the 13 are common enough to be in everyday use, but all thirteen are legal. If you are holding an X and cannot see a play, this page is the entire universe of five letter options, which is a rare thing to be able to say.
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.