How Many Words of Each Length Are There? Our 168,352-Word Count
In our 168,352-word game dictionary, the most common word length is eight letters (28,397 words). But among words in everyday use, the peak is seven letters (3,636 common words). The average word in the dictionary has 8.9 letters; the average common word has 7.5.
Key facts
- 168,352 words of 2 to 15 letters; 21,912 are common in everyday English.
- Eight-letter words are the largest group (28,397), followed by nine (24,856) and seven (23,079).
- Common words peak at seven letters (3,636), with six letters close behind (3,396).
- There are 100 two-letter words, 968 three-letter words and 8,602 five-letter words.
The full count
| Length | All words | Common words |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 100 | 45 |
| 3 | 968 | 360 |
| 4 | 3,877 | 1,482 |
| 5 | 8,602 | 2,666 |
| 6 | 15,200 | 3,396 |
| 7 | 23,079 | 3,636 |
| 8 | 28,397 | 3,317 |
| 9 | 24,856 | 2,694 |
| 10 | 20,286 | 1,950 |
| 11 | 15,493 | 1,159 |
| 12 | 11,352 | 662 |
| 13 | 7,824 | 357 |
| 14 | 5,126 | 140 |
| 15 | 3,192 | 48 |
Why longer words outnumber shorter ones
There are only so many short letter combinations that work as words, and most of them are already taken. Longer words are built by adding prefixes and endings to shorter ones: PLAY becomes PLAYS, PLAYED, PLAYER, PLAYERS, PLAYING, REPLAY, REPLAYED and so on. Each new form counts as a separate word in a game dictionary, which is why the counts grow quickly from four letters to eight.
After eight or nine letters the numbers fall again, because fewer base words are long enough to start with.
Why everyday words are shorter
The words we use most are short and old: THE, AND, OF, TO, IS, IN. Long words tend to be technical or rare. That is why only 1.5% of 15-letter words are common, while 45% of two-letter words are.
Lists by length
Browse every length with points: 2-letter words, 3-letter words, 4-letter words, 5-letter words, 6-letter words, 7-letter words and 8-letter words.
Sources
- Our own count over the ENABLE word list (words up to 15 letters), plus QI, QIS, ZA, ZAS, EW and OK.
- Common words identified using wordfreq by Robyn Speer.
