Why beginnings matter
If endings tell you how a word is used, beginnings tell you what it means. Prefixes such as UN, RE, DIS, MIS and PRE change a word's meaning in a predictable way, which makes them the easiest part of a word to learn and the most reliable part to guess. In word games they give you two things: a way to turn a rack into a longer word, and a way to find places on the board where a word can be extended at the front.
This page counts words by first letter, by first two letters, and by the prefixes players use most. It is a companion to the words ending in hub, and together the two pages cover most of the structure of English vocabulary. For the shortest words with a given start, remember the Word Finder: type the beginning into Starts with and it lists every match.
Words by first letter
S starts the most words by a wide margin, followed by C and P. If you are searching a long list for a word, starting with those letters finds a match fastest. Letters like X, Q, Y and Z start the fewest, which also makes them the hardest to play at the start of a word.
| First letter | Words | Share |
|---|---|---|
| S | 18,988 | 11.0% |
| C | 16,229 | 9.4% |
| P | 14,566 | 8.4% |
| A | 10,456 | 6.0% |
| R | 10,159 | 5.9% |
| D | 10,149 | 5.9% |
| M | 9,628 | 5.6% |
| B | 9,279 | 5.4% |
| T | 8,747 | 5.1% |
| E | 7,068 | 4.1% |
| I | 6,978 | 4.0% |
| F | 6,768 | 3.9% |
| H | 6,303 | 3.6% |
| O | 5,845 | 3.4% |
| G | 5,589 | 3.2% |
| U | 5,070 | 2.9% |
| L | 5,055 | 2.9% |
| N | 4,392 | 2.5% |
| W | 3,694 | 2.1% |
| V | 2,735 | 1.6% |
| K | 1,717 | 1.0% |
| J | 1,376 | 0.8% |
| Q | 823 | 0.5% |
| Y | 547 | 0.3% |
| Z | 533 | 0.3% |
| X | 136 | 0.1% |
Common prefixes compared
Each count excludes words where the prefix is nearly the whole word, so OVER- counts words that are at least three letters longer than the prefix. The examples are the shortest matches, which are the most useful for fitting a prefix onto a word already on the board.
| Prefix | Words | Share | Shortest examples | Top scorer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UN- | 3,844 | 2.2% | UNAIS, UNAPT, UNARM, UNARY and UNAUS | UNCOMMERCIALIZED (34) |
| RE- | 6,632 | 3.8% | REACH, REACT, READD, READS and READY | RECONTEXTUALIZING (36) |
| IN- | 4,498 | 2.6% | INANE, INAPT, INARM, INBYE and INCOG | INTERCOMPREHENSIBILITY (36) |
| DIS- | 1,680 | 1.0% | DISARM, DISBAR, DISBUD, DISCED and DISCOS | DISQUALIFICATIONS (32) |
| OVER- | 1,670 | 1.0% | OVERACT, OVERAGE, OVERALL, OVERAPT and OVERARM | OVERCOMMERCIALIZATIONS (42) |
| UNDER- | 399 | 0.2% | UNDERACT, UNDERAGE, UNDERARM, UNDERATE and UNDERBID | UNDEREMPHASIZING (34) |
| PRE- | 1,701 | 1.0% | PREACH, PREACT, PREAMP, PREARM and PRECIS | PREQUALIFICATIONS (33) |
| NON- | 1,559 | 0.9% | NONAGE, NONART, NONCES, NONCOM and NONEGO | NONSCHIZOPHRENIC (37) |
| ANTI- | 779 | 0.5% | ANTIAIR, ANTIARS, ANTIBUG, ANTICAR and ANTICKS | ANTISCHIZOPHRENIC (38) |
| MIS- | 1,224 | 0.7% | MISACT, MISADD, MISAIM, MISATE and MISCUE | MISCHARACTERIZATIONS (38) |
| OUT- | 1,288 | 0.7% | OUTACT, OUTADD, OUTAGE, OUTASK and OUTATE | OUTDAZZLING (31) |
| SUB- | 1,036 | 0.6% | SUBAHS, SUBBED, SUBDEB, SUBDUE and SUBERS | SUBJECTIVIZATIONS (40) |
| SUPER- | 664 | 0.4% | SUPERADD, SUPERBAD, SUPERBER, SUPERBLY and SUPERCAR | SUPERHEAVYWEIGHTS (35) |
| INTER- | 899 | 0.5% | INTERACT, INTERAGE, INTERBED, INTERCOM and INTERCUT | INTERCOMPREHENSIBILITY (36) |
| SEMI- | 231 | 0.1% | SEMIDRY, SEMIFIT, SEMILOG, SEMIMAT and SEMINAL | SEMIQUANTITATIVELY (35) |
| MID- | 114 | 0.1% | MIDAIR, MIDDAY, MIDDEN, MIDDLE and MIDGES | MIDDLEWEIGHTS (24) |
| CO- | 6,350 | 3.7% | COACH, COACT, COALA, COALS and COALY | COMPARTMENTALIZATIONS (38) |
| DE- | 3,703 | 2.1% | DEADS, DEAIR, DEALS, DEALT and DEANS | DEMYTHOLOGIZATIONS (37) |
| EX- | 1,468 | 0.8% | EXACT, EXALT, EXAMS, EXCEL and EXECS | EXHIBITIONISTICALLY (36) |
| TRANS- | 417 | 0.2% | TRANSACT, TRANSECT, TRANSEPT, TRANSFER and TRANSFIX | TRANSPARENTIZING (28) |
| FORE- | 316 | 0.2% | FOREARM, FOREBAY, FOREBYE, FOREDID and FOREGUT | FORETHOUGHTFULNESSES (33) |
| COUNTER- | 392 | 0.2% | COUNTERACT, COUNTERBID, COUNTERCRY, COUNTERING and COUNTERION | COUNTERMOBILIZATIONS (35) |
The most common first two letters
| Start | Words |
|---|---|
| RE | 6,681 |
| CO | 6,432 |
| IN | 4,513 |
| UN | 3,856 |
| DE | 3,753 |
| PR | 3,726 |
| DI | 3,225 |
| CA | 3,002 |
| SU | 2,886 |
| MI | 2,629 |
| ST | 2,597 |
| PA | 2,370 |
358 of the 676 possible two-letter starts never begin a word in our dictionary. Knowing which combinations are impossible is just as useful as knowing which are common: if your rack holds Q and no U, for example, the only starts that work are words like QI, QAT and QOPH, which you can find on the words with Q page.
Using prefixes as front hooks
A front hook is a letter or short prefix you add to a word already on the board. The words most open to a front hook are short, common words, so a good habit is to look at every three- to five-letter word on the board and ask which prefixes could go in front. RE, UN and DE are among the ones that fit most often.
- Single-letter front hooks such as S (SPLAY), A (AWAY), and B (BLAND) are the most common and the easiest to miss.
- Two-letter prefixes such as RE, UN and DE need two empty squares, so check that the row or column has room.
- Longer prefixes such as OVER, UNDER and INTER fill a lot of space but score well when they land on a premium square.
For the strategy that ties this together, read the Scrabble strategy guide, and for the other side of every word, see words ending in.