Word Finder

Find words with the letters you have, or words that contain, start or end with certain letters. Set a length, a pattern, or letters to leave out.

Your letters (optional: find words made only from these; ? = any letter)

Length:

Starts with

Ends with

Contains letters

Leave out letters

Pattern (? = unknown)

Min length

Max length

Contained letters must be together, in that order (e.g. ght)

The word finder is a free online tool that lists English words matching the letters, length and patterns you enter. You can search by letters you have, letters a word must contain, letters it must leave out, a start or end, or a pattern such as c?a?e. It runs in your browser, so nothing you type is sent anywhere, and there is no sign-up. Seven rules can be combined in one search, and a word must pass every rule you fill in. Results are grouped by length, with common words listed first. Use it for crossword gaps, Scrabble racks, Wordle guesses or spelling practice.

How to use the word finder

At least one box or a length must be filled in, or the tool will ask for one.

Type the letters you have into Your letters. Use ? for a blank tile that can stand for any one letter.
Choose a length with the chips (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or Any). For a range, use the Min length and Max length drop-downs.
Type letters into Starts with or Ends with if the word must begin or finish that way.
Type letters into Contains letters if they must appear somewhere in the word.
Type letters into Leave out letters to reject any word that uses them.
Type known letters into Pattern and use ? for each unknown letter. The pattern sets the word length.
Click Find Words, or press Enter in any box.
Read the results. Words are grouped by length, longest first. Rare words appear in grey.

Click Try an Example to load 5-letter words starting with ca and leaving out s. Click Clear to empty the boxes.

When results are showing, changing the min/max drop-downs, the length chips or the “together” box runs the search again. The search is also written into the address bar, for example ?starts=ca&min=5&max=5. Bookmark that address or send it to someone, and opening it runs the same search.

How do I find words that contain certain letters?

Use Contains letters. Every letter you type must appear somewhere in the word, in any order, and the word can have other letters too. Typing a letter twice, such as ee, means the word needs at least two of it. To require the letters in one block, tick “Contained letters must be together, in that order.” That turns the search into a substring search, so ght finds night, right and light.

How do I find words that start with and end with certain letters?

Use Starts with and Ends with together. Each box accepts up to 10 letters. For example, starts with ca and length 5 gives words such as cause, cases, carry and catch. Add a Leave out letters entry to remove unwanted words, such as s, which trims the list to 48 words.

What is the difference between words with letters and words containing letters?

“Words with letters” usually means words you can build from a set of letters you hold, such as tiles in a game. Use Your letters for that. Each letter is used no more often than you type it, and a word can be shorter than the letters you enter. “Words containing letters” means the letters must appear in the word, which may also have other letters. Use Contains letters for that. For example, Your letters “tealpr” with length 5 gives 13 words, including later, plate and pearl.

How do I find words with a missing letter?

Use Pattern. Type the letters you know in their positions and put ? in each gap. The pattern fixes the length of the word, so you do not need to set a length too. The pattern c?a?e matches chase, cease, clade, crane, crave, crake, crape, crate and 9 words in total. Pattern accepts up to 15 characters, and ?, _, . and * all work as unknown-letter markers.

How do I find words with letters in a certain position?

Put each known letter where it belongs in the Pattern box and use ? for the rest. Pattern is the only rule that checks exact positions. Starts with and Ends with check the first and last letters only, and Contains letters does not check positions at all. To narrow the list further, add letters to Leave out letters or Contains letters.

Can I find 5 letter words without certain letters?

Yes. Click the 5 letters chip and type the unwanted letters into Leave out letters, which accepts up to 26 letters. Leaving out aeiou with a length of 5 returns 19 words, including psych, myths, lynch, crypt and flyby. If you type a letter in both Contains letters and Leave out letters, the tool shows an error, because no word can meet both rules.

Why are some results in grey?

Grey words are rare. They are not in the frequency list the tool uses to rank common words. Common words appear first inside each length group, and the rest follow in alphabetical order. Each group shows 200 words, and the Show all button reveals the rest.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use the word finder for Wordle?

The word finder does not understand Wordle’s colour feedback, so it cannot use your previous guesses. For that, use the Wordle Solver. Wordle is a game by The New York Times, and this tool is an independent helper.

Is the word finder free?

Yes. It is free to use, there is no sign-up, and everything runs in your browser after the word list loads once. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.

Are the words from a Scrabble dictionary?

No. The word list has 52,649 English words, filtered to words that appear in English Wikipedia. The finder uses about 52,500 of them after removing some abbreviations, stub words and a short list of offensive words. It is not an official Scrabble dictionary.

Yes. Each search is written into the address bar, so you can bookmark the page or copy the link and send it to someone. Opening the link runs the same search.

Does the word finder show definitions or Scrabble scores?

No. The tool lists matching words only. It does not show definitions, and it does not calculate scores for Scrabble or Words With Friends. It also does not support other languages or printing.

How do I find words that start with a certain group of letters?

Type the letters into Starts with, which accepts up to 10 letters, then click Find Words. Add a length or Ends with to narrow the list.

Can I search for a range of word lengths?

Yes. Use the Min length and Max length drop-downs, which go from 2 to 15. Changing either one re-runs the search when results are showing.

Word Unscrambler: use it when you have a jumbled set of letters and want the words they form.
Anagram Solver: use it when you want every word that can be made from your letters, longest first.
Wordle Solver: use it when you are playing Wordle and want help with colour feedback.
Crossword Solver: use it when you know some letters in a crossword answer.
Text Twist Solver: use it when you are working on a Text Twist puzzle.
Spelling Bee Solver: use it when you are working on a Spelling Bee puzzle.
Word Wheel Solver: use it when you are working on a word wheel puzzle.
Boggle Solver: use it when you are looking for words in a Boggle grid.

About word games

Word games are spoken, board, card or video games often designed to test ability with language or to explore its properties.

Word games are generally used as a source of entertainment, but can additionally serve an educational purpose. Young children may enjoy playing games such as Mad Libs Junior, while developing spelling and writing skills. Researchers have found that adults who regularly solve crossword puzzles, which require familiarity with a larger vocabulary, have better brain function later in life.

Popular word-based game shows have been a part of television and radio throughout broadcast history, including Spelling Bee, the first televised game show, and Wheel of Fortune, the longest-running syndicated game show in the United States.