Words Starting With HA
100 wordsWords beginning with HA form one of English's most versatile clusters, spanning everyday terms like HAND and HALF to specialized vocabulary from Arabic and Hebrew. This collection reveals how English absorbed words from pilgrimage routes, trade networks, and religious traditions.
2-letter words
13-letter words
104-letter words
205-letter words
186-letter words
147-letter words
178-letter words
99-letter words
510-letter words
211-letter words
312-letter words
1Pattern Guide
Insights and recommendations for these words.
The HA- opening offers surprising strategic depth for word game players, with high-scoring religious terms and everyday words that play very differently across games.
Vocabulary & Language
Linguistic patterns and usage statistics
The HA- prefix doesn't function as a true prefix in English—instead, these words share only their opening letters while coming from wildly different sources. Germanic words like HAND, HALF, and HAZEL trace back through Old English to Proto-West Germanic roots. Arabic contributions cluster around religious practice: HAJJ, HADJ, and HAZZAN entered English through Islamic pilgrimage traditions and Jewish liturgical music.
Total Words
1,042
0.3% of dictionary
Avg Length
8.3 letters
2.7 syllables
Top Scrabble
HAPHAZARDLY
32 points
Longest Word
HAEMAGGLUTINATE
15 letters
Parts of Speech
With 77% nouns dominating this pattern, HA- words tend to name concrete things and concepts rather than describe actions. The 2.7 average syllables per word reflects a mix of short Germanic basics and longer borrowed terms.
Middle English dominates HA- words, preserving centuries-old vocabulary from daily life. Old English and Proto-West Germanic contributions reveal the deep Germanic core: HAND, HALF, and HAZEL trace unbroken lines back over a thousand years. Arabic's notable presence reflects medieval contact through trade and religion, bringing words like HAJJ into English unchanged.
Word Games
High-value words for board games
Short (2-4)
Medium (5-7)
Long (8+)
without care; in a slapdash manner
the amount that can be bought for a halfpenny
the quality of lacking any predictable order or plan
Short (2-4)
the fifth pillar of Islam is a pilgrimage to Mecca during the month of Dhu al-Hijja; at least once in a lifetime a Muslim is expected to make a religious journey to Mecca and the Kaaba
indistinct or hazy in outline
the fifth pillar of Islam is a pilgrimage to Mecca during the month of Dhu al-Hijja; at least once in a lifetime a Muslim is expected to make a religious journey to Mecca and the Kaaba
Medium (5-7)
Long (8+)
the amount that can be bought for a halfpenny
without care; in a slapdash manner
the quality of lacking any predictable order or plan
capable of being made harmonious or consistent
HAJJ scores 21 points in Scrabble but jumps to 24 in Words With Friends thanks to the higher J value (10 vs 8). Both games reward HAPHAZARDLY at 31-32 points for players who can build long words. The double-J in HAJJES and HAJJIS makes these plurals exceptionally valuable—look for opportunities to play through existing tiles. HAZZAN offers strong returns in both games when you're stuck with multiple Z's.
Wordle
5-letter words for daily puzzles
Good Starters (E, A, R, S, T)
HASTE and HASTY pack three common consonants (H, S, T) with two different vowels, making them solid openers. HARSH tests the useful RS combination early, while HATED checks for the common -ED ending pattern.
Length Extremes
Longest and shortest valid words
Short HA- words tend to be Germanic survivors—HA, HAD, HAG—while longer entries often came through Latin or French with their elaborate suffixes. HAPHAZARDLY and HAPHAZARDNESS show how English builds length through layered suffixes onto a borrowed core.
Hidden Gems
Rare but valid words to surprise opponents
a Cuban dance in duple time
dressed in a habit
"the habited men of the monastery"
take or consume (regularly or habitually)
"She became habituated to the background music"
habitual mode of behavior
HABANERA names a Cuban dance in duple time, famous from Bizet's Carmen. Beyond its musical charm, it's a valid Scrabble word that most opponents won't challenge. The eight letters and three A's make it useful when you're vowel-heavy and need to dump tiles strategically.
Popular crossword answers
Words frequently used in crossword puzzles with common clues.