3 Letter Words
The 240 most common English words with 3 letters, grouped alphabetically.
Three letters is where a word starts standing on its own. Two-letter entries mostly glue a sentence together, while three-letter words name things, and that makes this the first length worth reading as vocabulary rather than as a list of joints. Our word list holds 969 of them, and the 240 that turn up most often in everyday English are grouped alphabetically below. Nearly all follow one shape, consonant then vowel then consonant, and once you hear that rhythm you can generate candidates yourself: CAT, BED, PIN, TOP, RUN. The real lever at this length is extension, because most four- and five-letter answers are a three-letter core wearing something extra, so finding CAR hands you CARD, CARE, CART and CARS in the same moment. Three-letter entries also carry the awkward letters: JAM, JET and JOY put a J to work, while SKY, SPY, FLY, TRY and WHY get by on Y alone.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
R
S
T
U
V
W
Y
Common questions
How many three-letter words are there?
Our word list contains 969 entries of exactly three letters. The page above shows the 240 that appear most often in ordinary English, because the remaining several hundred are dialect terms, obsolete spellings and technical abbreviations that would pad the list without helping you solve anything. If you need one of those rarer entries, the word finder tools linked below search the full list rather than this curated selection.
Which three-letter words come up most in crosswords?
Crossword regulars and conversation regulars are two different sets. Compilers reach for vowel-heavy fill such as ERA, ORE, ALE, EEL, OAR, ODE, APE and URN, because those cross cleanly with almost anything, yet none of them ranks high in everyday speech, which is why they sit outside the frequency list above. Learning two dozen of these vowel-rich three-letter words pays off faster in a grid than any amount of longer vocabulary.
How do I find a three-letter word from letters I already have?
Set the length to three in the filter, then add the first letter, the last letter, or both. Working from the last letter is usually quicker, since a final S, Y, T or D cuts the field down immediately. If your clue gives you the middle letter instead, filter on the length alone and read the alphabetical group for whichever starting letter your crossings allow, which at three letters is a short scan rather than a search.