Words Starting With PAN

100 words

PAN- words carry the Greek legacy of 'all' or 'every' into modern English. From panoramas to pandemics, this prefix creates words that encompass totality. Here you'll find everything from quick three-letter plays to medical terminology that spans fifteen letters.

3-letter words

1

4-letter words

3

5-letter words

11

6-letter words

9

7-letter words

14

8-letter words

19

9-letter words

18

10-letter words

11

11-letter words

4

12-letter words

4

13-letter words

3

14-letter words

3

Pattern Guide

Insights and recommendations for these words.

The PAN- prefix opens doors to both everyday vocabulary and specialized terminology that can transform your word game strategy.

Vocabulary & Language

Linguistic patterns and usage statistics

The Greek prefix 'pan-' meaning 'all' generates many words in this group—pandemic (all people), panorama (all views), panacea (all-healing). Beyond the prefix, PAN words include practical terms like PANG and PANT that derive from entirely different roots. This creates a vocabulary set split between Greek compound words and native English terms.

Total Words

179

0.1% of dictionary

Avg Length

8.8 letters

3.3 syllables

Top Scrabble

PANEGYRIZING

28 points

Longest Word

PANTHEISTICALLY

15 letters

Parts of Speech

Nouns
78%
Verbs
1%
Adjectives
20%

With 78% nouns dominating this pattern, PAN- words lean heavily toward naming things rather than describing actions. The average length of 8.8 letters reflects the pattern's preference for Greek-derived compound words over short native terms.

Ancient Greek and Latin share dominance here, which makes sense given 'pan-' is a Greek prefix that entered English through both direct borrowing and Latin intermediaries. The word PANACHE traces an interesting path: French borrowed it from Italian 'pennacchio,' which came from Late Latin 'pinnāculum'—a diminutive meaning 'small feather.' PANICUM shows the typical scholarly route through New Latin back to Proto-Indo-European roots.

Word Games

High-value words for board games

Short (2-4)

PANG

a mental pain or distress

7 pts
PANE

street name for lysergic acid diethylamide

6 pts
PANT

a short labored intake of breath with the mouth open

6 pts

Medium (5-7)

PANCHAX
21 pts
PANICKY

thrown into a state of intense fear or desperation

18 pts
PANZER

an armored vehicle or tank

17 pts

Long (8+)

PANEGYRIZING
28 pts
PANEGYRIZED
27 pts
PANPSYCHISTIC
27 pts
PANCREATECTOMY

surgical removal of part or all of the pancreas

25 pts

PANCHAX scores 21 in Scrabble but climbs to 23 in WWF—a modest difference. The real strategic value lies in PANZER (17/19 points), which uses common tiles for solid returns in both games. For high-stakes plays, PANEGYRIZING delivers 28 points in Scrabble and 32 in WWF, making it more valuable on the WWF board if you can build it.

Wordle

5-letter words for daily puzzles

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

PANTSStarter

(used in the plural) underpants worn by women

Common Words (likely answers)

PANTSCommon

(used in the plural) underpants worn by women

PANICCommon

sudden mass fear and anxiety over anticipated events

PANELCommon

select from a list

PANDACommon

large black-and-white herbivorous mammal of bamboo forests of China and Tibet; in some classifications considered a member of the bear family or of a separate family Ailuropodidae

PANTS makes a solid Wordle opener, testing two common vowels (A) and frequent consonants (N, T, S) in a single guess.

Length Extremes

Longest and shortest valid words

Longest

PANTHEISTICALLY15 letters
PANCREATECTOMY14 letters
PANGENETICALLY14 letters
PANTOMIMICALLY14 letters

Shortest

PAN3 letters

Short PAN words like PANG and PANE are native English survivors, while longer terms like PANCREATECTOMY reflect Greek's habit of building compound words by stacking meaningful parts together.

Hidden Gems

Rare but valid words to surprise opponents

PANHELLENIC

of or relating to all the Greeks

PANOPLY

a complete and impressive array

PANCREATIN

extract from the pancreas of animals that contains pancreatic enzymes; used to treat pancreatitis and other conditions involving insufficient pancreatic secretions

PANTOGRAPH

mechanical device used to copy a figure or plan on a different scale

PANOPLY means a complete and impressive array—originally referring to a full suit of armor. It's surprisingly useful in word games, using common letters without any high-value tiles that might get stuck on your rack. The word has evolved from describing literal armor to any grand display or collection.

Popular crossword answers

Words frequently used in crossword puzzles with common clues.