4-Letter Words: Useful Lists for Scrabble, Wordle and Crosswords

Four-letter words are the most flexible tool in any word game. They're long enough to score well and reach premium squares, but short enough to fit in tight spots that longer words can't. Our dictionary contains 5,528 four-letter words. About 1,950 of them are everyday words you'd recognise; the rest are the unusual ones that experienced players use to get out of trouble.

This page gives you both: a quick reference of common words by starting letter, and the short lists that matter most for scoring.

Common four-letter words by starting letter

These are frequently used words, chosen so they're easy to remember and quick to spot on a rack.

Letter	Common words
A	ABLE, AREA, AWAY, ALSO, ARMY, AUNT, AXIS, AQUA
B	BACK, BEST, BOOK, BODY, BLUE, BIRD, BAKE, BOLD
C	CARE, CITY, COLD, CAMP, CLUB, COIN, CUBE, CALM
D	DATE, DEAL, DOOR, DARK, DESK, DIVE, DUST, DOVE
E	EACH, EASY, EDGE, EVEN, EXIT, ECHO, EPIC, EXAM
F	FACE, FAST, FIRE, FOOD, FARM, FISH, FOLK, FUZZ
G	GAME, GIFT, GOLD, GOOD, GLAD, GRIP, GUST, GAZE
H	HAND, HELP, HOME, HOPE, HALF, HIKE, HUSH, HAZE
I	IDEA, INTO, IRON, ITEM, ICON, INCH, ISLE, ITCH
J	JUST, JOIN, JUMP, JOKE, JURY, JEST, JINX, JOLT
K	KEEP, KIND, KING, KNOW, KICK, KNEE, KITE, KNOT
L	LAND, LIFE, LONG, LOVE, LAKE, LAMP, LEAF, LYNX
M	MAKE, MIND, MOVE, MOON, MAZE, MILK, MYTH, MOSS
N	NAME, NEAR, NEXT, NOTE, NEST, NICE, NAVY, NOUN
O	ONLY, OPEN, OVER, OVAL, OBEY, OMEN, ONYX, OXEN
P	PART, PLAY, PARK, PEAK, PINK, POEM, PUSH, PUMA
Q	QUIT, QUIZ, QUAD, QUAY, QUIP, QUID, QOPH, QADI
R	READ, ROAD, ROOM, RULE, RAIN, RISK, RUBY, ROPE
S	SAME, SHOW, SIDE, STAR, SNOW, SOFA, SWIM, SOUP
T	TAKE, TIME, TREE, TRUE, TEXT, TAXI, TIDE, TUNE
U	UNIT, UPON, USED, URGE, UGLY, UNDO, UNTO, USER
V	VERY, VIEW, VOTE, VASE, VEIL, VINE, VOID, VAST
W	WORK, WORD, WAVE, WIND, WOLF, WRAP, WAXY, WILD
X	XYST, XRAY
Y	YEAR, YARD, YOGA, YAWN, YELL, YOLK, YURT, YOYO
Z	ZONE, ZERO, ZOOM, ZEAL, ZEST, ZINC, ZANY, ZOOS

X is the hard one: very few four-letter words start with X. XYST (a covered walkway in ancient Greek architecture) is one of the few in our dictionary.

High-scoring four-letter words

When you want points, look for words that combine two valuable tiles or put one high tile in a flexible position.

Word	Scrabble points (before premiums)	Why it's strong
QUIZ	22	Q and Z together
JINX	18	J and X together
FIZZ	15 (one Z must be a blank)	Only one Z in the set, so the second Z is a 0-point blank
JAZZ	19 (one Z must be a blank)	Same: the second Z has to be a blank
ZEAL	13	Z with three 1-point letters
APEX	13	X at the end, easy to hook
ONYX	14	Y and X, a single vowel
HOAX	14	H and X
QOPH	18	Q without a U

Note that Scrabble sets contain only one Z, one Q, one X and one J. Words like FIZZ and JAZZ need a blank tile, which scores zero, so they're less valuable than they look.

Four-letter words with no vowels (except Y)

When your rack is full of consonants, these can save a turn:

BRRR, CWMS, HYMN, LYNX, MYTH, PFFT, PSST, SYNC, TSKS, CYST, WYND, XYST

Four-letter vowel-heavy words

When your rack has too many vowels, these clear three at a time:

AQUA, AREA, AUTO, IDEA, OBOE, EAUX, ALOE, AIDE, EASE, EAVE, OLIO, AERO, EUOI, UREA

Four-letter words for Wordle-style games

Some Wordle-style games use four-letter answers. Good starting guesses cover the most common letters without repeating any. Words like RATE, SALE, TEAR, LOSE, NOTE and RISE each test two vowels and two of the most frequent consonants.

How to learn more four-letter words

Learn by pattern. Words ending in -ZE, -XY or -JO are short lists. Use the word finder with an "ends with" filter.
Learn hooks. Many four-letter words take an S, but some take other letters. For example, HEAR takes T (HEART) and D (HEARD).
Learn from your games. After each game, type your final rack into the unscrambler and note one four-letter word you missed.

Related lists

5-letter words list: for Wordle and longer plays.
6-letter words list: stepping stones to bingos.
3-letter Scrabble words: the shortest high scorers.