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5 Letter Words Starting With Z
Looking for five-letter words that begin with Z? There are 99 valid 5 letter words starting with Z, and only one of them is a common everyday word. The most used is zebra. Add your Wordle clues to the finder, or browse the lists below, sorted from most to least common. For every other letter, use our 5 letter words finder.
Narrow it down with your Wordle clues
Shows every 5 letter word you can make using only these letters. Each letter can be used as many times as you type it.
5 letter words starting with Z at a glance
- Valid words
- 99
- Common words
- 1
- Most common
- zebra
- Top Scrabble score (common)
- zebra 16 pts
- Top Scrabble score (all)
- zuzim 25 pts
Common 5 letter words starting with Z (1)
The words with 5 letters starting with Z you're most likely to know, most used first.
- zebra16
How to find a five-letter word that starts with a Z
Looking for 5 letter words that start with Z to solve a Wordle? The finder above already has Z in the first green box; add your other clues.
A real example from our word list: the answer is ZESTY, and all you know is that it starts with Z, which leaves 23 everyday words. Open with ZONAL, the guess that splits this set most evenly.
Guess 1: ZONAL Z is green, and the rest are grey. That leaves 2 possible answers: zippy and zesty.
Guess 2: ZIPPY Z and Y are green, and the rest are grey. That leaves 1 possible answer.
Guess 3: ZESTY All five letters are green. Solved in 3.
What comes after Z?
In everyday words that start with Z, the second letter is most often O (30%), A (26%) and I (26%). 91% have a vowel second, so if your consonant guesses keep missing, try A, E, I, O or U in the second spot.
| Starts with | Number of everyday words | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| ZO | 7 | zoned, zorro, zonal, zooey |
| ZA | 6 | zaire, zaman, zakat, zante |
| ZI | 6 | zippy, zilch, zippo, zilla |
| ZE | 2 | zebra, zesty |
| ZL | 1 | zloty |
| ZY | 1 | zygon |
What the most common ones mean
- zebra
- nounany of several fleet black-and-white striped African equines
Definitions from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University.
About 5 letter words starting with Z
Z is worth 10 points in Scrabble, so even everyday Z words like zebra and zesty score well. Very few common English words start with Z, and many of the valid ones are borrowed from other languages. That makes Z a poor bet for the first letter of a Wordle answer unless your clues point to it. If they do, the second letter is almost always a vowel, so test E, O and A next.
Z is one of the least common first letters for 5 letter words, ranking 24 out of 26.
Word families that start with Z
zebra is the most familiar Z-first word, and most of the others are rarer or borrowed. Z is worth 10 points in Scrabble, the joint highest of any letter, so any Z word you can place is valuable. Z is much more common inside words than at the start, as in crazy, dozen, pizza and prize. For that list, see 5 letter words with Z. In Wordle, Z answers are rare, so a Z guess only makes sense when your clues point there.
Vowels in 5 letter words starting with Z
A is the most common vowel here, appearing in 43% of the everyday words, followed by O (43%) and E (39%). The least common is U (0%).
30% have just one vowel, like zippy, zilch, zesty and zloty. At the other end, zaire, zooey and zowie have three or more.
Nouns, verbs and adjectives
By main meaning (WordNet), there are 7 nouns and 3 adjectives.
Nouns include zebra, zaire and zaman. Adjectives include zonal, zippy and zesty.
Best Wordle guesses that start with Z
Top guesses, with the average number of the 23 everyday words each leaves: ZONAL (2.0), ZANTE (2.0), ZINKE (2.3), ZONDA (2.4) and ZONED (2.4).
39% repeat a letter, and 6 have a double letter, like zorro, zooey, zippy and zippo.
Highest-scoring 5 letter words starting with Z in Scrabble
Top everyday words: zazen (23), zippy (21) and zappy (21). All valid words: zuzim (25), zazen (23) and zanza (23). 69 words reach 15 points or more.
All 99 valid 5 letter words starting with Z98 rarer words accepted in Scrabble and Wordle, not shown above. Plurals are marked.
- zones14plural
- zoned15
- zeros14plural
- zaire14
- zorro14
- zonal14
- zooms16plural
- zooey17
- zaman16
- zippy21
- zacks20plural
- zilch19
- zetas14plural
- zippo18
- zesty17
- zulus14plural
- zilla14
- zakat18
- zines14plural
- zinke18
- zloty17
- zante14
- zazen23
- zowie17
- zonda15
- zingy18
- zombi18
- zygon18
- zings15plural
- zappy21
- zambo18
- zoner14
- zineb16
- zooid15
- zupan16
- zamia16
- zooks18
- zouks18plural
- zanza23
- zanja21
- zabra16
- zanze23
- zarfs17plural
- zaris14plural
- zatis14plural
- zaxes21plural
- zayin17
- zeals14plural
- zebec18
- zebub18
- zebus16plural
- zeins14plural
- zerda15
- zerks18plural
- zests14plural
- zexes21plural
- zezes23plural
- zhomo19
- zibet16
- ziffs20plural
- zigan15
- zilas14plural
- zills14plural
- zimbi18
- zimbs18plural
- zinco16
- zincs16plural
- zincy19
- zinky21
- ziram16
- zitis14plural
- zizel23
- zizit23
- zlote14
- zoaea14
- zobos16plural
- zobus16plural
- zocco18
- zoeae14
- zoeal14
- zoeas14plural
- zoism16
- zoist14
- zonae14
- zonks18plural
- zooea14
- zoons14plural
- zooty17
- zoppa18
- zoppo18
- zoril14
- zoris14plural
- zupas16plural
- zurfs17plural
- zuzim25
- zygal18
- zymes19plural
- zymic21
Questions people ask
How many 5 letter words starting with Z are there?
99 valid words; only one of them is a common everyday word.
What is a five-letter word that starts with a Z?
The most common is zebra. Other everyday examples are .
What is the best Wordle guess that starts with Z?
There are too few common words to rank guesses. Start with zebra.
Which 5 letter word starting with Z scores the most in Scrabble?
Among common words, zebra scores 16 points. Among all valid words, zuzim scores 25.
What 5 letter words start with Z and end with Y?
Y is the most common last letter for these words (6 of the everyday words). Examples: zooey, zippy, zesty and zloty.
Do more 5 letter words start with Z or end with Z?
99 valid 5 letter words start with Z, compared with 29 that end with it. See 5 letter words ending in Z.
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