Words Containing QU

100 words

The QU combination is English's most reliable letter partnership. Q almost never appears without U following close behind, making these words easy to spot but challenging to play. Here you'll find everything from quick four-letter plays to impressive vocabulary builders.

4-letter words

5-letter words

6-letter words

7-letter words

8-letter words

9-letter words

10-letter words

11-letter words

12-letter words

Pattern Guide

Insights and recommendations for these words.

Q words demand respect in word games. That high-value tile needs its faithful companion U, which limits your options but rewards careful planning.

Vocabulary & Language

Linguistic patterns and usage statistics

English borrowed Q almost exclusively through Latin and French, where QU represented a /kw/ sound. This explains why QU words cluster around certain meanings: 'quaere' (to seek) gave us query, quest, and question. The 'quint' root meaning five appears in quintet, quintuple, and quintessence. Most QU words entered English already paired, so the Q-without-U exceptions like QI and QOPH feel genuinely foreign.

Total Words

1,688

0.6% of dictionary

Avg Length

9.5 letters

3.1 syllables

Top Scrabble

QUIZZICALITY

44 points

Longest Word

HEMIDEMISEMIQUAVER

18 letters

Parts of Speech

Nouns

64%

Verbs

Adjectives

22%

Adverbs

At 64% nouns, QU words lean heavily toward naming things rather than describing or doing. The average length of 9.5 letters reflects how many QU words are sophisticated vocabulary: acquire, consequence, eloquent. Short QU words are genuinely scarce.

Latin dominates QU etymology, with French and Middle English serving as the main transmission routes. The chain from QUAESTOR shows a typical path: Latin to Middle English, carrying Roman administrative vocabulary into English law and finance. Many QU words traveled through multiple French stages before reaching English, picking up spelling variations along the way.

Word Games

High-value words for board games

Short (2-4)

QUIZ

examine someone's knowledge of something

22 pts

QUAY

wharf usually built parallel to the shoreline

16 pts

QUEY

16 pts

Medium (5-7)

QUIZZER

someone who administers a test to determine your qualifications

34 pts

QUIZZES

34 pts

BEZIQUE

a card game played with a pack of forty-eight cards (two of each suit for high cards); play resembles whist

27 pts

Long (8+)

QUIZZICALITY

44 pts

QUIZZICALLY

in a quizzical and questioning manner

43 pts

HEMIDEMISEMIQUAVER

a musical note having the time value of a sixty-fourth of a whole note

40 pts

QUIZZICAL

perplexed (as if being expected to know something that you do not know)

38 pts

QUIZ delivers nearly identical value in both games—22 points in Scrabble, 23 in WWF. The real action happens with longer builds: QUIZZER and QUIZZICALITY reward players who hold that Q for the right moment. In WWF, Q scores 10 points versus Scrabble's 10, so no advantage there. Focus instead on premium square placement. BEZIQUE offers strong scoring in both games when you've got tiles to spare.

Wordle

5-letter words for daily puzzles

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

QUESTStarter

the act of searching for something

SQUATStarter

having a low center of gravity; built low to the ground

QUARTStarter

a United States dry unit equal to 2 pints or 67.2 cubic inches

QUAREStarter

Common Words (likely answers)

QUITECommon

of an unusually noticeable or exceptional or remarkable kind (not used with a negative)

QUIETCommon

(of a body of water) free from disturbance by heavy waves

QUICKCommon

apprehending and responding with speed and sensitivity

QUEENCommon

a female sovereign ruler

QUEST and QUART test the common QU opening while checking different vowels and consonants. SQUAT is particularly clever—it places Q in an unusual second position and tests S, which appears in many five-letter words.

Length Extremes

Longest and shortest valid words

Longest

HEMIDEMISEMIQUAVER18 letters

INCONSEQUENTIALITY18 letters

CONSEQUENTIALNESS17 letters

INCONSEQUENTIALLY17 letters

Shortest

QUA3 letters

Short QU words are rare because Q demands U, consuming two letter slots immediately. HEMIDEMISEMIQUAVER stretches to 18 letters because musical terminology loves compound Latin prefixes stacked onto root words.

Hidden Gems

Rare but valid words to surprise opponents

ADEQUACY

the quality of being sufficient for the end in view

"he questioned the adequacy of the usual sentimental interpretation of the Golden Rule"

ANTIQUARY

an expert or collector of antiquities

AQUEOUS

produced by the action of water

"aqueous solutions"

AQUIFER

underground bed or layer yielding ground water for wells and springs etc

ANTIQUARY means an expert or collector of antiquities—someone who studies and preserves old objects. It's a useful Scrabble word that sounds more obscure than it is. The -ARY ending opens bingo possibilities when you're building off existing tiles.