Words Starting With PH

100 words

The PH combination represents one of English's most distinctive Greek imports, where phi (φ) became our F sound through Latin transliteration. These words span medicine, philosophy, and science—fields where Greek thinking shaped Western knowledge.

3-letter words

1

4-letter words

2

5-letter words

6
View all 6

6-letter words

13

7-letter words

8

8-letter words

10

9-letter words

10

10-letter words

13

11-letter words

10

12-letter words

9

13-letter words

6

14-letter words

6

15-letter words

6

Pattern Guide

Insights and recommendations for these words.

PH words reward players who know their Greek roots. The letter combination creates reliable high-scoring options across word games.

Vocabulary & Language

Linguistic patterns and usage statistics

The PH spelling almost always signals Greek ancestry. Words like PHILOSOPHY, PHYSICS, and PHARMACY descend from φιλος (loving), φύσις (nature), and φάρμακον (drug). This pattern dominates scientific and medical terminology because Greek was the language of ancient scholarship. When you see PH, you're usually looking at vocabulary that entered English through education and specialized fields.

Total Words

729

0.2% of dictionary

Avg Length

11.0 letters

3.9 syllables

Top Scrabble

PHYSICOCHEMICALLY

39 points

Longest Word

PHOTOPHOSPHORYLATION

20 letters

Parts of Speech

Nouns
80%
Verbs
4%
Adjectives
15%
Adverbs
1%

This pattern skews heavily toward nouns at 80%, reflecting PH words' concentration in technical and scientific vocabulary. The average length of 11 letters confirms these aren't everyday terms—they're the specialized language of academia and medicine.

Ancient Greek dominates this pattern's origins, with Latin and French serving as intermediary languages that carried Greek words into English. The etymology of PHILOSOPHY traces a clear path: Greek φιλοσοφία passed through Latin and Old French before reaching Middle English. This pattern reveals how Greek intellectual vocabulary flowed through Roman and French scholarship before English adopted it.

Word Games

High-value words for board games

Short (2-4)

PHIZ

the human face (`kisser' and `smiler' and `mug' are informal terms for `face' and `phiz' is British)

18 pts
12 pts
PHON

a unit of subjective loudness

9 pts

Medium (5-7)

PHARYNX

the passage to the stomach and lungs; in the front part of the neck below the chin and above the collarbone

22 pts
PHIZOG
21 pts
PHALANX

a body of troops in close array

19 pts

Long (8+)

PHYSICOCHEMICALLY
39 pts
PHYTOGEOGRAPHICALLY
39 pts
PHOTOPHOSPHORYLATION
38 pts
PHENYLTHIOCARBAMIDE
37 pts

PHARYNX scores 22 points in both games, making it a reliable seven-letter powerhouse when you draw the right tiles. PHIZ offers exceptional efficiency—18 points in just four letters works identically across Scrabble and WWF. For longer plays, PHYSICOCHEMICALLY jumps from 39 points in Scrabble to 42 in WWF, where the Y tile's higher value adds up in such lengthy words.

Wordle

5-letter words for daily puzzles

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

PHASEStarter

a particular point in the time of a cycle; measured from some arbitrary zero and expressed as an angle

Common Words (likely answers)

PHONECommon

(phonetics) an individual sound unit of speech without concern as to whether or not it is a phoneme of some language

PHOTOCommon

a representation of a person or scene in the form of a print or transparent slide or in digital format

PHASECommon

a particular point in the time of a cycle; measured from some arbitrary zero and expressed as an angle

PHONYCommon

a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives

PHASE makes an excellent starter with three vowels (A and E) plus common consonants S and H. It tests frequent letter positions while eliminating or confirming sounds that appear across many five-letter words.

Length Extremes

Longest and shortest valid words

Longest

PHOTOPHOSPHORYLATION20 letters
PHENOMENALISTICALLY19 letters
PHENYLPROPANOLAMINE19 letters
PHENYLTHIOCARBAMIDE19 letters

Shortest

PHI3 letters

Short PH words are rare because Greek roots tend toward compound forms. Terms like PHOTOPHOSPHORYLATION stack multiple Greek elements together, following the language's original pattern of building complex concepts from simpler roots.

Hidden Gems

Rare but valid words to surprise opponents

PHANTASY

imagination unrestricted by reality

PHILATELIST

a collector and student of postage stamps

PHILODENDRON

often grown as a houseplant

PHONIC

of or relating to speech sounds

PHANTASY—an alternate spelling of 'fantasy' meaning imagination unrestricted by reality—remains valid in word games. This older form preserves the Greek spelling more faithfully and catches opponents off guard. It's particularly useful when the F tile isn't available but PH is.

Popular crossword answers

Words frequently used in crossword puzzles with common clues.

More "PH" Pages

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