Words Ending With EN

100 words

The -EN ending is one of English's most productive suffixes, transforming adjectives into verbs (quicken, brighten) and creating past participles that double as adjectives (broken, frozen). This collection spans everyday words alongside technical terms from biochemistry and nautical vocabulary.

2-letter words

1

3-letter words

10

4-letter words

11

5-letter words

17
View all 17

6-letter words

32

7-letter words

12

8-letter words

11

9-letter words

3

10-letter words

1

12-letter words

1

13-letter words

1

Pattern Guide

Insights and recommendations for these words.

The -EN pattern rewards players who recognize its dual nature: common verbs that everyone knows, plus specialized terms that can catch opponents off guard.

Vocabulary & Language

Linguistic patterns and usage statistics

The -EN suffix works overtime in English. It turns adjectives into causative verbs—QUICKEN means 'to make quick,' following the same pattern as brighten, soften, and strengthen. It also marks old plural forms that survived from Old English, explaining why we say OXEN instead of 'oxes.' Many -EN words carry a sense of transformation or state change, making them semantically rich despite their simple construction.

Total Words

738

0.2% of dictionary

Avg Length

7.6 letters

2.6 syllables

Top Scrabble

CHYMOTRYPSINOGEN

32 points

Longest Word

CHYMOTRYPSINOGEN

16 letters

Parts of Speech

Nouns
49%
Verbs
24%
Adjectives
26%
Adverbs
1%

Nearly half of -EN words are nouns (49%), with verbs and adjectives splitting the remainder almost evenly. The average length of 7.6 letters reflects how -EN typically attaches to existing roots rather than standing alone, building longer compound forms.

Middle English dominates this pattern, with Old English as a strong secondary source. The etymology chain of VIXEN shows a satisfying evolution: from Proto-West Germanic through Old English 'fyxen' to its modern form. WOOLEN traces back to Proto-Germanic roots, demonstrating how Germanic languages shaped these everyday suffix patterns before Latin and French made their mark on English.

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
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
QUICKEN

make keen or more acute

22 pts
ZYMOGEN

any of a group of compounds that are inactive precursors of enzymes and require some change (such as the hydrolysis of a fragment that masks an active enzyme) to become active

22 pts

Long (8+)

CHYMOTRYPSINOGEN
32 pts
OXYHYDROGEN
29 pts
CHURCHWARDEN

an officer in the Episcopal church who helps a parish priest with secular matters

26 pts
CHURCHWOMEN
26 pts

MIZZEN scores 26 in Scrabble but jumps to 28 in WWF, making nautical vocabulary more rewarding in the mobile game. The real separation comes with compound words: NEWSPAPERWOMEN and COMMITTEEWOMEN appear only in WWF's valid list, offering high-scoring options unavailable to Scrabble players. ZYMOGEN delivers strong returns in both games, though its biochemistry origins make it a surprise play that opponents rarely anticipate.

Wordle

5-letter words for daily puzzles

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

TAKENStarter

understood in a certain way; made sense of

EATENStarter
SIRENStarter

a woman who is considered to be dangerously seductive

RISENStarter

(of e.g. celestial bodies) above the horizon

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

GIVENCommon

an assumption that is taken for granted

Start with TAKEN or EATEN to test common consonants alongside two vowels. If those miss, SIREN and RISEN offer alternative consonant combinations while confirming the E-N ending pattern.

Length Extremes

Longest and shortest valid words

Longest

CHYMOTRYPSINOGEN16 letters
PREKINDERGARTEN15 letters
THUNDERSTRICKEN15 letters
AIRCRAFTSWOMEN14 letters

Shortest

EN2 letters
BEN3 letters
DEN3 letters
FEN3 letters

The shortest entries like EN and DEN are root words, while monsters like CHYMOTRYPSINOGEN (16 letters) show how scientific terminology stacks prefixes onto Greek and Latin roots. The suffix -EN keeps attaching to ever-longer bases.

Hidden Gems

Rare but valid words to surprise opponents

ALBUMEN

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

BETOKEN

be a signal for or a symptom of

CAREEN

move sideways or in an unsteady way

"The ship careened out of control"

COZEN

be false to; be dishonest with

"He cozened the money out of the old man"

COZEN means to deceive or be dishonest with someone. This archaic-sounding verb remains tournament-legal and scores well with its Z. It appears in Shakespeare and offers that satisfying moment when an opponent challenges a word that turns out to be perfectly valid.

Popular crossword answers

Words frequently used in crossword puzzles with common clues.

More "EN" Pages

Browse words by longer letter combinations starting with "EN".