Five-letter position pattern
5 Letter Words with A as 2nd and U as 5th Letter
When a puzzle hands you A as the second letter and U as the last, the field narrows quickly. A in the second box is very common, usually after a consonant such as B, C, H, M, P or T. A final U is rare in English, so these words are mostly borrowed.
42matching five-letter words
5 Letter Words with A as 2nd and U as 5th Letter
- badju
- balau
- bantu
- barbu
- battu
- bayou
- cajou
- garau
- haiku
- haldu
- jambu
- jantu
- kahau
- kannu
- kanzu
- karou
- kassu
- kauru
- kawau
- lassu
- lautu
- mambu
- maniu
- manqu
- mapau
- matsu
- nairu
- nandu
- nanmu
- nardu
- padou
- pareu
- passu
- pattu
- sadhu
- sajou
- samfu
- sangu
- tarau
- tatou
- waefu
- wagyu
What the Common Words Have in Common
Most of these words begin with B as in BAYOU, H as in HAIKU and W as in WAGYU. The third box is usually Y in BAYOU, I in HAIKU and N in BANTU. The fourth box is most often O in BAYOU and K in HAIKU. A few of these entries are rarer words that mostly appear in Scrabble and other word games, so check them against your word list.
Useful five-letter words
BAYOU, HAIKU, BANTU, WAGYU and SADHU are the entries you are most likely to meet.
- BAYOU
- HAIKU
- BANTU
- WAGYU
- SADHU
A Wordle Tip for This Pattern
The first box is the biggest unknown, and B, H and W are the strongest openers to test. If the opener comes back grey, test Y in the third box, since it is the single most common middle letter here. The fixed A and U do a lot of the work, so use your guesses on the three open boxes rather than on those two letters.
Playing This Pattern in Word Games
In Scrabble, A is worth one point and U is worth one point. Knowing words such as BAYOU, HAIKU and BANTU helps you use both tiles quickly when they land on your rack.
Frequently asked questions
Is A second and U fifth a common pattern in Wordle
It is a fair sized group, so it gives you plenty of choices. Knowing the usual openers and middle letters helps more than guessing blindly.
What does a final U tell me about the word
A final U is rare in English, so these words are mostly borrowed. BAYOU and HAIKU show the pattern.
Which letters usually start words with A second and U fifth
B, H and W are the usual openers, as in BAYOU, HAIKU and WAGYU. Testing one of them in the first box is the quickest way to narrow the list.