7 Letter Words
The 240 most common English words with 7 letters, grouped alphabetically.
Seven letters is the classic crossword length. Open almost any daily grid and the long across entries sit at seven, because that size gives a compiler room for a real clue while still crossing cleanly with the shorter fill around it. This page groups the most common seven-letter words alphabetically so you can hunt by pattern. Words such as PICTURE, JOURNEY, MYSTERY, KITCHEN, LIBRARY and CAPTAIN show up constantly, and many seven-letter answers are simply a six-letter root wearing an ending, as in TEACHER, WHISPER and MEASURE. That structure is your lever: fix the last two or three letters and the field shrinks to something you can read through. Set the length to seven in the filter, add the letters you already have, and work down the list from the most common words.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
Common questions
Why are seven-letter words so common in crosswords?
Standard American grids are usually fifteen squares across, and a seven-letter entry sits neatly next to a black square and a shorter answer without forcing the compiler into awkward fill. Seven letters also gives enough room for a clue with real wordplay, while still leaving the entry easy to cross. The result is that seven-letter slots carry much of the interesting material in a typical puzzle.
What endings show up most in seven-letter words?
Agent endings such as -ER in TEACHER, adjective endings such as -OUS and -FUL, and plurals of six-letter roots account for a large share. Words in -URE such as PICTURE and MEASURE and words in -ERY such as MYSTERY are frequent too. When you have the tail of a seven-letter answer, name the ending first and the root usually follows on its own.
How can I solve a seven-letter clue with only two letters filled in?
Use whichever letter is more distinctive. A J, K, V or W near the front narrows the field enormously, so filter on that letter first and scan. If both known letters sit in the middle, set the length to seven and read the alphabetical group for the likeliest starting letter instead, checking each candidate against your crossings as you go.