Words Ending With EL
100 wordsWords ending in EL form a surprisingly versatile corner of English vocabulary. From everyday terms like FUEL and STEEL to the formidable SCHUTZSTAFFEL, this ending appears across Germanic roots, French borrowings, and Hebrew loanwords alike.
2-letter words
13-letter words
64-letter words
95-letter words
266-letter words
337-letter words
148-letter words
69-letter words
410-letter words
1Pattern Guide
Insights and recommendations for these words.
The EL ending rewards players who recognize its flexibility across word lengths and origins.
Vocabulary & Language
Linguistic patterns and usage statistics
The EL suffix often creates agent nouns (words for people or things that do something) or diminutives. Germanic languages contributed many short, punchy EL words, while French and Latin brought longer, more formal terms. This dual heritage explains why EL words range from the simple EEL to elaborate compounds like PUMPERNICKEL.
Total Words
447
0.1% of dictionary
Avg Length
6.7 letters
2.3 syllables
Top Scrabble
SCHUTZSTAFFEL
33 points
Longest Word
ANTIPERSONNEL
13 letters
Parts of Speech
Nouns dominate this pattern at 81%, with verbs claiming 16%. The average length of 6.7 letters suggests EL words tend toward the mid-range, practical vocabulary that sees regular use rather than obscure technical terms.
Middle English contributed the largest share of EL words, reflecting this ending's deep roots in the language's formative period. German influence appears in distinctive compounds like PUMPERNICKEL and MANGELWURZEL. The Latin and French contributions often arrived through Norman conquest and medieval scholarship, adding a scholarly layer to this otherwise earthy suffix.
Word Games
High-value words for board games
Medium (5-7)
a shameless impudent scheming woman
adorn or decorate with precious stones
a young unmarried woman
Long (8+)
special police force in Nazi Germany founded as a personal bodyguard for Adolf Hitler in 1925; the SS administered the concentration camps
(Yiddish) a very unlucky or inept person who fails at everything
Short (2-4)
Medium (5-7)
a shameless impudent scheming woman
adorn or decorate with precious stones
a young unmarried woman
Long (8+)
special police force in Nazi Germany founded as a personal bodyguard for Adolf Hitler in 1925; the SS administered the concentration camps
bread made of coarse rye flour
AXEL demonstrates how tile values shift between games—scoring 11 points in Scrabble but 12 in Words With Friends. JEZEBEL dominates both formats, but WWF rewards it more generously at 29 points versus Scrabble's 25, thanks to the elevated J value. For long-word players, MANGOLDWURZEL and SCHUTZSTAFFEL tie at 35 points in WWF, while Scrabble gives the Nazi term the edge at 33 points.
Wordle
5-letter words for daily puzzles
Good Starters (E, A, R, S, T)
Common Words (likely answers)
a building where travelers can pay for lodging and meals and other services
a specific identifiable position in a continuum or series or especially in a process
the highest waterfall; has more than one leap; flow varies seasonally
a person who poses for a photographer or painter or sculptor
STEEL makes an excellent opening guess, testing two common consonants and the double-E pattern that appears frequently in EL words. EASEL offers strong vowel coverage with three different vowels to quickly narrow possibilities.
Length Extremes
Longest and shortest valid words
Short EL words like BEL and DEL exist as borrowings or abbreviations, while monsters like ANTIPERSONNEL grow through compounding. English readily stacks prefixes onto EL cores without losing the clean ending sound.
Hidden Gems
Rare but valid words to surprise opponents
small croquette of mashed chick peas or fava beans seasoned with sesame seeds
equipment and supplies of a military force
of a building having more than one level
a French verse form of 10 or 13 lines running on two rhymes; the opening phrase is repeated as the refrain of the second and third stanzas
MATERIEL refers specifically to military equipment and supplies—distinct from 'material' in both spelling and meaning. This French borrowing scores well with its seven letters and appears in both major word games. It's the kind of word opponents rarely challenge because it looks plausible, even if they don't know the exact definition.
Popular crossword answers
Words frequently used in crossword puzzles with common clues.