Words With K in the Middle
67 wordsThe letter K sitting in the middle of words creates some of English's most distinctive vocabulary. From everyday terms to specialized scientific nomenclature, middle-K words span an impressive range of origins and uses.
3-letter words
14-letter words
155-letter words
156-letter words
167-letter words
138-letter words
59-letter words
112-letter words
1Pattern Guide
Insights and recommendations for these words.
Middle-K words offer surprising opportunities in word games, from compact high-scorers to monster plays that dominate the board.
Vocabulary & Language
Linguistic patterns and usage statistics
K in the middle position often signals borrowed words. Russian contributes terms like KOLKHOZ and MUZJIK. German gives us KATZENJAMMER. Japanese adds words like SAKE and KARAOKE. This medial K frequently marks where English adopted foreign words wholesale rather than adapting them.
Total Words
7,546
2.5% of dictionary
Avg Length
8.0 letters
2.4 syllables
Top Scrabble
KERATOCONJUNCTIVITIS
38 points
Longest Word
BUCKMINSTERFULLERENE
20 letters
Parts of Speech
This pattern skews heavily toward nouns at 75%, well above the dictionary average. The 8.0-letter average length reflects the abundance of compound words and technical terms that feature middle K.
Middle English dominates this pattern's origins, reflecting K's deep roots in the language's Germanic foundation. Old English contributes foundational words like BREAK, which traces through Proto-West Germanic. The strong Japanese and Russian presence distinguishes this pattern from others, showing how K served as a landing spot for loanwords from languages with sounds English couldn't easily substitute.
Word Games
High-value words for board games
Short (2-4)
Medium (5-7)
a Russian peasant (especially prior to 1917)
a cabinet containing an automatic record player; records are played by inserting a coin
a collective farm owned by the communist state
Long (8+)
inflammation of the cornea and conjunctiva
disagreeable aftereffects from the use of drugs (especially alcohol)
nonsensical language (according to Lewis Carroll)
a member of a kolkhoz
Short (2-4)
Medium (5-7)
a Russian peasant (especially prior to 1917)
a cabinet containing an automatic record player; records are played by inserting a coin
Long (8+)
inflammation of the cornea and conjunctiva
a spheroidal fullerene; the first known example of a fullerene
disagreeable aftereffects from the use of drugs (especially alcohol)
JACK and JOCK illustrate scoring divergence between games. Both score 17 points in Scrabble but jump to 20 in Words With Friends, where J carries more weight. MUZJIK dominates both games as a medium-length powerhouse. For longer plays, BUCKMINSTERFULLERENE reaches 42 points in WWF versus 38 in Scrabble, making it more valuable when you can build toward premium squares in Friends.
Wordle
5-letter words for daily puzzles
Good Starters (E, A, R, S, T)
BREAK and SPEAK make excellent Wordle starters, each delivering two vowels plus the common consonants R, K, and B or P. TAKEN tests T and N while confirming vowel positions.
Length Extremes
Longest and shortest valid words
Longest
Shortest
The shortest middle-K words are just two letters: KA, KI, KO. The longest stretch to scientific compounds like BUCKMINSTERFULLERENE at 20 letters. Technical vocabulary drives the upper extremes.
Hidden Gems
Rare but valid words to surprise opponents
red pear-shaped tropical fruit with poisonous seeds; flesh is poisonous when unripe or overripe
motion sickness experienced while traveling by air (especially during turbulence)
pH values above 7
having the back covered with thick bony plates; thought to have walked with a sprawling gait resembling a lizard's
ACKEE names a red pear-shaped tropical fruit with poisonous seeds. Native to West Africa and now Jamaica's national fruit, it's toxic when unripe or overripe but delicious when prepared correctly. The word plays cleanly in Scrabble and WWF, offering a useful dump for double letters.
Popular crossword answers
Words frequently used in crossword puzzles with common clues.
More "K" Pages
Browse words by longer letter combinations starting with "K".