Words Starting With PA
100 wordsPA words form one of English's most productive starting combinations, spanning everyday terms like PACK and PAPER to specialized vocabulary from medicine and science. This collection reveals how a simple two-letter opening can branch into thousands of distinct meanings across every field of human knowledge.
2-letter words
13-letter words
64-letter words
175-letter words
176-letter words
207-letter words
188-letter words
119-letter words
410-letter words
311-letter words
212-letter words
1Pattern Guide
Insights and recommendations for these words.
The PA pattern offers strategic depth for word game players, with scoring opportunities that reward knowing both common plays and obscure gems.
Vocabulary & Language
Linguistic patterns and usage statistics
The PA prefix often signals words borrowed from Latin and Greek, where 'pan-' means 'all' and 'para-' means 'beside' or 'beyond.' This creates clusters of related terms: panorama, pandemic, parallel, paradox. Many PA words in English retain their scholarly character, which explains why this pattern skews heavily toward nouns and adjectives rather than everyday verbs.
Total Words
1,634
0.5% of dictionary
Avg Length
9.0 letters
3.3 syllables
Top Scrabble
PARATHYROIDECTOMIZED
43 points
Longest Word
PALEOANTHROPOLOGICAL
20 letters
Parts of Speech
With 73% nouns and just 6% verbs, PA words lean heavily toward naming things rather than describing actions. The average length of 9.0 letters per word reflects the technical and scientific vocabulary that dominates this pattern.
Middle English and Latin together shaped much of the PA vocabulary, with French and Ancient Greek contributing substantial influence. The etymology chain from PATINA illustrates a common pattern: Italian borrowed from Latin, which had absorbed from Greek—showing how words traveled across Mediterranean cultures before reaching English. PATIENCE follows a similar route through Old French, demonstrating how Norman influence channeled Latin vocabulary into everyday English use.
Word Games
High-value words for board games
Short (2-4)
Medium (5-7)
Long (8+)
having an effect similar to that resulting from stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system
Short (2-4)
Medium (5-7)
Long (8+)
having an effect similar to that resulting from stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system
of or concerned with the scientific study of human fossils
PALAZZI and PALAZZO both score 27 points in Scrabble but jump to 29 in Words With Friends, making them slightly more valuable in WWF. The real strategic treasure is PAXWAX—scoring 25 in Scrabble and 26 in WWF, it's a legitimate seven-letter word most opponents won't challenge. For monster plays, PARATHYROIDECTOMIZED tops both games at 43 and 44 points respectively, though finding space for a 20-letter word requires exceptional board conditions.
Wordle
5-letter words for daily puzzles
Good Starters (E, A, R, S, T)
Common Words (likely answers)
PARTY and PANTS make excellent PA openers for Wordle, each testing common consonants alongside the useful A. PAPER doubles down on A placement while checking P twice and introducing R and E—three of English's most frequent letters.
Length Extremes
Longest and shortest valid words
The longest PA words come from medicine and anthropology, where Greek combining forms stack into terms like PALEOANTHROPOLOGICAL. At the other extreme, PA itself survives as a valid two-letter play—an informal term for father that proves invaluable in tight board situations.
Hidden Gems
Rare but valid words to surprise opponents
a horse used to set the pace in racing
a formal expression of praise
in a manner lacking interest or vitality
"a palely entertaining show"
especially a light saddle horse for a woman
PALFREY deserves attention as a word that sounds invented but has deep historical roots. It refers to a light saddle horse, particularly one ridden by women in medieval times. At 15 points in Scrabble, it's a solid mid-length play that most opponents won't know to challenge.
Popular crossword answers
Words frequently used in crossword puzzles with common clues.