Words Ending With AY
100 wordsWords ending in -AY form one of English's most versatile patterns, spanning everything from simple days of the week to specialized nautical terms. This collection includes everyday vocabulary alongside technical compounds that can swing games in your favor.
2-letter words
13-letter words
164-letter words
135-letter words
116-letter words
177-letter words
208-letter words
169-letter words
110-letter words
412-letter words
1Pattern Guide
Insights and recommendations for these words.
The -AY ending creates surprisingly strategic opportunities across word games, with compound words offering the biggest scoring potential.
Vocabulary & Language
Linguistic patterns and usage statistics
The -AY suffix often signals a path, route, or manner of doing something—think highway, walkway, folkway. Many -AY words function as both nouns and verbs (pay, spray, delay), giving them grammatical flexibility. This pattern frequently forms compounds by attaching to other common words, creating accessible vocabulary like parkway and breezeway.
Total Words
288
0.1% of dictionary
Avg Length
6.8 letters
2.1 syllables
Top Scrabble
SUPERHIGHWAY
27 points
Longest Word
RADIOIMMUNOASSAY
16 letters
Parts of Speech
With 72% nouns dominating this pattern, -AY words lean heavily toward naming things rather than describing them. The average length of 6.8 letters reflects the prevalence of compound formations, where simple words combine into longer terms.
Middle English dominates this pattern, with Old English as the secondary source—reflecting deep Germanic roots in everyday English vocabulary. The journey of PAY from Latin 'paco' through Old French into Middle English shows how commerce-related terms traveled trade routes into English. PARLAY's path through multiple French stages reveals how gambling terminology evolved across centuries of linguistic borrowing.
Word Games
High-value words for board games
Short (2-4)
Long (8+)
an extensive electronic network (such as the internet) used for the rapid transfer of sound and video and graphics in digital form
a broad highway designed for high-speed traffic
a stairway or ladder that leads from one deck to another on a ship
Short (2-4)
Medium (5-7)
a path set aside for walking
a wide scenic road planted with trees
Long (8+)
a stairway or ladder that leads from one deck to another on a ship
immunoassay of a substance that has been radioactively labeled
an extensive electronic network (such as the internet) used for the rapid transfer of sound and video and graphics in digital form
QUAY scores identically in both games at 16 points, making it a reliable short-word anchor. JAY jumps from 13 points in Scrabble to 14 in WWF thanks to the boosted J value. For longer plays, COMPANIONWAY scores 28 in WWF versus 24 in Scrabble—a four-point swing that rewards WWF players who can build complex compounds. Focus on compound -WAY words in WWF where the scoring differences compound with word length.
Wordle
5-letter words for daily puzzles
Good Starters (E, A, R, S, T)
SPRAY and STRAY both test common consonants S, T, R alongside the crucial A-Y ending. ESSAY doubles up on S, useful when you need to confirm or eliminate that frequent letter.
Length Extremes
Longest and shortest valid words
Short -AY words like JAY and QUAY pack high point values into minimal letters. Compounds stretch to 16 letters with RADIOIMMUNOASSAY, where technical prefixes stack onto the base pattern.
Hidden Gems
Rare but valid words to surprise opponents
DEFRAY means to bear the expenses of something—a formal word for covering costs. It's valid in both Scrabble and WWF, and its unusual spelling catches opponents off guard. Worth 14 points even without premium squares, DEFRAY adds sophistication to your vocabulary while clearing the D and F from a tricky rack.
Popular crossword answers
Words frequently used in crossword puzzles with common clues.