4 letter words
Every four-letter word in the list — 3,888 of them — grouped by opening letter, scored, and filterable by pattern, ending or the letters you want to avoid.
Why four letters is the useful length
Four-letter words are where a tight board gets unstuck. They fit through gaps a longer word cannot reach, they hook onto an existing word with one tile, and they are short enough that a rack almost always holds one. In a crossword a four-letter slot is the one that resists longest, because there are so many candidates that crossing letters carry all the information.
The list here holds 3,888 of them. 392 contain a doubled letter — JAZZ, FIZZ, FUZZ and BUZZ — which is a disproportionate share for such a short word and a pattern worth recognising when you are staring at two identical tiles.
Scores, endings and the S problem
The highest-scoring four-letter words in the list are JAZZ (29), FIZZ (25), FUZZ (25), BUZZ (24) and QUIZ (22) on standard Scrabble tiles. Those numbers are the reason a J or a Z sitting on your rack is worth building around rather than dumping: a four-letter word carrying one can outscore a six-letter word made of ones.
812 of the four-letter words end in S. That matters at a board more than it looks: an S is the cheapest hook in the game, and holding one lets you extend somebody else's word while playing your own. It is also why so many players hoard theirs to the point of losing points.
After S, the most common endings are E, T, D and A. Filtering by ending is the fastest way through this page — a four-letter slot with a known last letter usually has fewer than a hundred candidates, and often far fewer.
Four-letter words by opening letter
The first fourteen alphabetically for each letter, with the full count beside it. Set the starts-with filter above to see any of them in full.
| Letter | Words | First fourteen |
|---|---|---|
| A | 192 | AAHS, AALS, ABAS, ABBA, ABBE, ABED, ABET, ABLE, ABLY, ABOS, ABRI, ABUT, ABYE, ABYS |
| B | 251 | BAAL, BAAS, BABA, BABE, BABU, BABY, BACH, BACK, BADE, BADS, BAFF, BAGS, BAHT, BAIL |
| C | 228 | CABS, CACA, CADE, CADI, CADS, CAFE, CAFF, CAGE, CAGY, CAID, CAIN, CAKE, CAKY, CALF |
| D | 231 | DABS, DACE, DADA, DADO, DADS, DAFF, DAFT, DAGS, DAHL, DAHS, DAIS, DAKS, DALE, DALS |
| E | 102 | EACH, EARL, EARN, EARS, EASE, EAST, EASY, EATH, EATS, EAUX, EAVE, EBBS, EBON, ECHE |
| F | 189 | FACE, FACT, FADE, FADO, FADS, FAIL, FAIN, FAIR, FAKE, FALL, FALX, FAME, FANE, FANG |
| G | 189 | GABS, GABY, GADI, GADS, GAED, GAEN, GAES, GAFF, GAGA, GAGE, GAGS, GAIN, GAIT, GALA |
| H | 189 | HAAF, HAAR, HABU, HACK, HADE, HADJ, HAED, HAEM, HAEN, HAES, HAET, HAFT, HAGS, HAHA |
| I | 58 | IAMB, IBEX, IBIS, ICED, ICES, ICHS, ICKY, ICON, IDEA, IDEM, IDES, IDLE, IDLY, IDOL |
| J | 85 | JABS, JACK, JADE, JAGG, JAGS, JAIL, JAKE, JAMB, JAMS, JANE, JAPE, JARL, JARS, JATO |
| K | 120 | KAAS, KABS, KADI, KAES, KAFS, KAGU, KAIF, KAIL, KAIN, KAKA, KAKI, KALE, KAME, KAMI |
| L | 208 | LABS, LACE, LACK, LACS, LACY, LADE, LADS, LADY, LAGS, LAIC, LAID, LAIN, LAIR, LAKE |
| M | 208 | MAAR, MABE, MACE, MACH, MACK, MACS, MADE, MADS, MAES, MAGE, MAGI, MAGS, MAID, MAIL |
| N | 104 | NAAN, NABE, NABS, NADA, NAGS, NAIF, NAIL, NAME, NANA, NANS, NAOI, NAOS, NAPE, NAPS |
| O | 107 | OAFS, OAKS, OARS, OAST, OATH, OATS, OBES, OBEY, OBIA, OBIS, OBIT, OBOE, OBOL, OCAS |
| P | 256 | PACA, PACE, PACK, PACS, PACT, PADI, PADS, PAGE, PAID, PAIK, PAIL, PAIN, PAIR, PALE |
| Q | 14 | QAID, QATS, QOPH, QUAD, QUAG, QUAI, QUAY, QUEY, QUID, QUIN, QUIP, QUIT, QUIZ, QUOD |
| R | 182 | RACE, RACK, RACY, RADS, RAFF, RAFT, RAGA, RAGE, RAGI, RAGS, RAIA, RAID, RAIL, RAIN |
| S | 350 | SABE, SABS, SACK, SACS, SADE, SADI, SAFE, SAGA, SAGE, SAGO, SAGS, SAGY, SAID, SAIL |
| T | 247 | TABS, TABU, TACE, TACH, TACK, TACO, TACT, TADS, TAEL, TAGS, TAHR, TAIL, TAIN, TAKA |
| U | 37 | UDOS, UGHS, UGLY, UKES, ULAN, ULNA, ULUS, ULVA, UMBO, UMPS, UNAI, UNAU, UNBE, UNCI |
| V | 74 | VACS, VAGI, VAIL, VAIN, VAIR, VALE, VAMP, VANE, VANG, VANS, VARA, VARS, VARY, VASA |
| W | 165 | WABS, WACK, WADE, WADI, WADS, WADY, WAES, WAFF, WAFT, WAGE, WAGS, WAIF, WAIL, WAIN |
| X | 1 | XYST |
| Y | 70 | YACK, YAFF, YAGI, YAKS, YALD, YAMS, YANG, YANK, YAPS, YARD, YARE, YARN, YAUD, YAUP |
| Z | 31 | ZAGS, ZANY, ZAPS, ZARF, ZEAL, ZEBU, ZEDS, ZEES, ZEIN, ZEKS, ZERK, ZERO, ZEST, ZETA |
Common questions
How many 4 letter words are there?
3,888 in the ENABLE-derived list used here. Dictionaries disagree on the short obscure ones — that is where lists differ most, because a four-letter entry is either in a dictionary or it is not, with no inflection to soften the call.
What are the highest-scoring four-letter words?
On standard Scrabble tiles: JAZZ (29), FIZZ (25), FUZZ (25), BUZZ (24) and QUIZ (22). Words With Friends uses different tile values, so a word's rank there is not the same.
Can I see only four-letter words that start and end with given letters?
Yes — set both the starts-with and ends-with filters, or use the pattern box with underscores in between. The list updates as you type, and the count beside the heading tells you how many survived.