Words Containing A
100 wordsThe letter A anchors more English words than any other vowel. From two-letter essentials like AA to medical behemoths, this collection spans the full range of the language—common vocabulary you use daily alongside obscure terms waiting to surprise your opponents.
2-letter words
43-letter words
194-letter words
375-letter words
226-letter words
107-letter words
48-letter words
29-letter words
110-letter words
1Pattern Guide
Insights and recommendations for these words.
A appears in over a fifth of all dictionary entries, making pattern recognition here especially valuable for word game players.
Vocabulary & Language
Linguistic patterns and usage statistics
A dominates English through prefixes like AB- (away from), AD- (toward), and ANTI- (against), each spawning hundreds of words. The suffix -ATION alone accounts for an enormous chunk of English nouns, transforming verbs into abstract concepts. Many A-words also trace back to Latin's first-declension nouns, which overwhelmingly ended in -A.
Total Words
65,327
21.8% of dictionary
Avg Length
9.4 letters
3.5 syllables
Top Scrabble
RAZZMATAZZ
48 points
Longest Word
ADRENOCORTICOTROPHIC
20 letters
Parts of Speech
With 60% nouns and 28% adjectives, A-words skew heavily toward naming things and describing them. The 3.5 average syllables per word reflects all those Latin and Greek derivatives that English absorbed wholesale.
Middle English and Latin dominate the ancestry of A-words, reflecting how Norman French and church Latin reshaped English after 1066. The etymology chain from DEWAN traces an remarkable journey—from Sumerian clay tablets through Akkadian, Persian, and Hindi into modern English. French contributions often arrived twice: once through Old French, then again through later borrowings.
Word Games
High-value words for board games
Short (2-4)
empty rhetoric or insincere or exaggerated talk
harass with persistent criticism or carping
Medium (5-7)
Long (8+)
any exciting and complex play intended to confuse (dazzle) the opponent
a diuretic drug (trade name Microzide, Esidrix, and HydroDIURIL) used in the treatment of hypertension
Short (2-4)
empty rhetoric or insincere or exaggerated talk
the fifth pillar of Islam is a pilgrimage to Mecca during the month of Dhu al-Hijja; at least once in a lifetime a Muslim is expected to make a religious journey to Mecca and the Kaaba
Medium (5-7)
the activeness of an energetic personality
a musician who plays or composes jazz music
Long (8+)
any exciting and complex play intended to confuse (dazzle) the opponent
inflammation of the cornea and conjunctiva
JAZZ scores 29 in Scrabble but 31 in Words With Friends, where J carries more weight. The real strategic difference emerges with HAJJ—a WWF powerhouse at 24 points that Scrabble values less. RAZZMATAZZ tops both games near 50 points, but JAZZMAN's 38 points in WWF makes it worth memorizing specifically for that platform. When you're stuck with multiple high-value tiles, WWF rewards aggressive play more than Scrabble does.
Wordle
5-letter words for daily puzzles
Good Starters (E, A, R, S, T)
GREAT and AFTER both test the common consonants R and T while placing A in different positions. HEARD adds the frequently-used E and D, covering your bases when earlier guesses narrow down vowel placement.
Length Extremes
Longest and shortest valid words
Longest
Shortest
Two-letter words like AA and AD exist because English borrowed scoring terms and abbreviations. The 20-letter ADRENOCORTICOTROPHIC represents medical terminology's habit of stacking Greek roots into single compounds.
Hidden Gems
Rare but valid words to surprise opponents
a poplar that is widely cultivated in the United States; has white bark and leaves with whitish undersurfaces
formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure
"She abjured her beliefs"
failing to accomplish an intended result
"an abortive revolt"
reduce in scope while retaining essential elements
"the new law might abridge our freedom of expression"
ABJURE means to formally reject a belief, usually under pressure—think public recantations or renouncing allegiances. It's worth 16 points in Scrabble with no difficult letters, and most opponents won't challenge it. The word descends from Latin's AB- (away) plus JURARE (to swear), making it literally 'to swear away from.'
Popular crossword answers
Words frequently used in crossword puzzles with common clues.