Words Containing EN

100 words

The letter combination EN appears throughout English, forming everything from simple three-letter words to pharmaceutical tongue-twisters. This pattern connects ancient Anglo-Saxon roots to modern scientific terminology, making it essential territory for word game players and vocabulary enthusiasts alike.

3-letter words

4

4-letter words

10

5-letter words

18
View all 18

6-letter words

21

7-letter words

19

8-letter words

9

9-letter words

12

10-letter words

7

Pattern Guide

Insights and recommendations for these words.

EN sits at a crossroads of English vocabulary, appearing in words borrowed from Latin, French, and Germanic sources over centuries.

Vocabulary & Language

Linguistic patterns and usage statistics

EN frequently functions as both a prefix meaning 'to put into' (envy, enter) and a suffix creating past participles or adjectives (taken, broken). This dual role explains its remarkable productivity in English word formation. The pattern also appears in countless scientific and medical terms, where Greek and Latin roots combine with EN to describe biological processes and chemical compounds.

Total Words

10,836

3.6% of dictionary

Avg Length

10.3 letters

3.6 syllables

Top Scrabble

OXYPHENBUTAZONE

41 points

Longest Word

ADRENOCORTICOTROPHIC

20 letters

Parts of Speech

Nouns
62%
Verbs
8%
Adjectives
27%
Adverbs
4%

With 64% nouns dominating this pattern, EN words lean heavily toward naming things rather than describing actions. The average length of 10.3 letters—well above typical English words—reflects the pattern's prevalence in technical and scientific vocabulary.

Middle English and Latin dominate this pattern's ancestry, with French contributions forming a significant third stream. The etymology of OXYGEN traces a fascinating path from French through Ancient Greek, where 'oxys' meant sharp or acid—early chemists believed all acids contained oxygen. This layered history shows English absorbing EN words during multiple periods of linguistic contact.

Word Games

High-value words for board games

Short (2-4)

ZEN

street name for lysergic acid diethylamide

12 pts
OXEN

domesticated bovine animals as a group regardless of sex or age

11 pts
ENVY

spite and resentment at seeing the success of another (personified as one of the deadly sins)

10 pts

Medium (5-7)

MIZZEN

third mast from the bow in a vessel having three or more masts; the after and shorter mast of a yawl, ketch, or dandy

26 pts
ENZYMIC
23 pts
QUICKEN

make keen or more acute

22 pts

Long (8+)

OXYPHENBUTAZONE

an anti-inflammatory drug (trade name Tandearil) used to treat arthritis and bursitis

41 pts
METHOXYBENZENE
40 pts
BENZODIAZEPINE

any of several similar lipophilic amines used as tranquilizers or sedatives or hypnotics or muscle relaxants; chronic use can lead to dependency

37 pts
COMPARTMENTALIZATION

a mild state of dissociation

37 pts

OXYPHENBUTAZONE represents the holy grail for both games, but scoring differences matter elsewhere. MIZZEN scores 26 in Scrabble versus 28 in WWF, while ENZYMIC jumps from 23 to 25 points. The real strategic insight: WWF's higher Z value (10 vs 10 in Scrabble) means ZEN becomes slightly more valuable relatively, making those short Z-plays more attractive when you're stuck with difficult tiles.

Wordle

5-letter words for daily puzzles

Good Starters (E, A, R, S, T)

TAKENStarter

understood in a certain way; made sense of

SPENTStarter

drained of energy or effectiveness; extremely tired; completely exhausted

AGENTStarter

the semantic role of the animate entity that instigates or causes the happening denoted by the verb in the clause

ENTERStarter

to come or go into

Common Words (likely answers)

HAVENCommon

a sheltered port where ships can take on or discharge cargo

WOMENCommon
TAKENCommon

understood in a certain way; made sense of

SENSECommon

the meaning of a word or expression; the way in which a word or expression or situation can be interpreted

TAKEN and SPENT make excellent openers, each testing common consonants (T, N) alongside different vowels. AGENT offers an alternative that probes the valuable G position while keeping the essential E and N in play.

Length Extremes

Longest and shortest valid words

Longest

ADRENOCORTICOTROPHIC20 letters
ADRENOCORTICOTROPHIN20 letters
BUCKMINSTERFULLERENE20 letters
COMPARTMENTALIZATION20 letters

Shortest

EN2 letters
BEN3 letters
DEN3 letters
END3 letters

The shortest EN words like DEN and BEN represent Old English survivors, while the longest entries are modern scientific coinages. This span from 2 to 20 letters captures English's entire history of word formation.

Hidden Gems

Rare but valid words to surprise opponents

ACCENTUATION

the act of giving special importance or significance to something

ACCOUTREMENT

clothing that is worn or carried, but not part of your main clothing

ACENTRIC

not centered or having no center

"an acentric chromosome fragment"

ALBUMEN

a simple water-soluble protein found in many animal tissues and liquids

ACCOUTREMENT refers to clothing or equipment that's worn or carried but isn't part of your main outfit—think a soldier's belt pouches or a photographer's vest. This French import scores well in word games thanks to its length and common letter combinations. It's one of those words that sounds more obscure than it is.

Popular crossword answers

Words frequently used in crossword puzzles with common clues.