Words Containing ER
100 wordsThe letters ER form one of English's most versatile endings, appearing in everything from simple two-letter words to sprawling technical terms. This collection spans agent nouns (teacher, baker), comparatives (faster, stronger), and countless borrowed words that shaped the language over centuries.
3-letter words
14-letter words
75-letter words
166-letter words
287-letter words
188-letter words
109-letter words
1010-letter words
811-letter words
112-letter words
1Pattern Guide
Insights and recommendations for these words.
Words ending in or containing ER offer reliable building blocks for word games, with scoring potential that varies dramatically between platforms.
Vocabulary & Language
Linguistic patterns and usage statistics
The suffix -er serves double duty in English. It creates agent nouns from verbs (someone who does something) and comparative adjectives from their base forms. This flexibility explains why ER appears in nearly every corner of the dictionary. Many ER words also trace back to Latin's -arius and -or endings, which English absorbed through French and then anglicized.
Total Words
19,060
6.4% of dictionary
Avg Length
9.6 letters
3.5 syllables
Top Scrabble
HEMIDEMISEMIQUAVER
40 points
Longest Word
BUCKMINSTERFULLERENE
20 letters
Parts of Speech
With 74% nouns dominating this pattern, you're looking at a category built for naming people, tools, and things that perform actions. The average length of 9.6 letters reflects how many ER words are compound forms or carry multiple suffixes stacked together.
Middle English contributed the largest share of ER words, reflecting the suffix's deep roots in everyday speech. Latin and French influences arrived through different routes—some directly, others filtered through Old French during the Norman period. The chain from SILVER traces all the way to Proto-West Germanic, showing how some ER words predate even Old English.
Word Games
High-value words for board games
Short (2-4)
Medium (5-7)
someone who administers a test to determine your qualifications
Long (8+)
a musical note having the time value of a sixty-fourth of a whole note
Short (2-4)
Medium (5-7)
someone who administers a test to determine your qualifications
Long (8+)
inflammation of the cornea and conjunctiva
a musical note having the time value of a sixty-fourth of a whole note
JERK and JEER both use the J tile differently across games—J scores 10 in WWF versus 8 in Scrabble, making these short words slightly more valuable on the WWF board. QUIZZER dominates both formats as a medium-length powerhouse, but check the long game: OVERCOMMERCIALIZING jumps from 40 points in Scrabble to 48 in WWF thanks to the shifted letter values. When building around ER endings, WWF rewards the same words more generously if they contain J, Q, or Z.
Wordle
5-letter words for daily puzzles
Good Starters (E, A, R, S, T)
Start with THERE or OTHER to test both the common TH combination and vowel placement. AFTER and LATER offer alternative consonant coverage while confirming where E and R land in the puzzle.
Length Extremes
Longest and shortest valid words
The shortest ER words (ER, ERE, ERG) function as grammatical particles or scientific units. The longest, like BUCKMINSTERFULLERENE at 20 letters, emerge from technical naming conventions that stack prefixes and roots onto the base pattern.
Hidden Gems
Rare but valid words to surprise opponents
someone who admires a young woman
an acrobat who performs in the air (as on a rope or trapeze)
the performance of stunts while in flight in an aircraft
an airfoil that controls lateral motion
AERIALIST describes an acrobat who performs in the air, such as on a trapeze or high wire. Beyond its circus elegance, it packs four vowels into nine letters—useful when you're holding a vowel-heavy rack. The word builds naturally from AERIAL, making it easier to remember than most nine-letter plays.
Popular crossword answers
Words frequently used in crossword puzzles with common clues.
More "ER" Pages
Browse words by longer letter combinations starting with "ER".