5 Letter Words Starting With A

There are 1300 valid 5 letter words that start with A, drawn from NWL2023, CSW24, and Words With Friends. Sorted below by score, with the single highest scorer called out.

Highest Scoring 5-Letter Words

US Scrabble (NWL)

aback - 13 points

UK Scrabble (CSW)

aback - 13 points

Words With Friends

aback - 15 points

Top 20 Highest-Scoring 5 Letter Words Starting With a

Point values shown for US Scrabble, UK Scrabble, and Words With Friends. The average across this full 1300 word list is 27.9 combined points.

Rank Word US Scrabble UK Scrabble WWF Points Total
#1 aahed 9 9 8 26
#2 aalii 5 5 6 16
#3 aargh 9 9 9 27
#4 aaron 5 5 6 16
#5 aarti 5 5 5 15
#6 abaca 9 9 11 29
#7 abaci 9 9 11 29
🏆 #8 aback 13 13 15 41
#9 abacs 9 9 11 29
#10 abada 8 8 9 25
#11 abaff 13 13 14 40
#12 abaft 10 10 11 31
#13 abaka 11 11 12 34
#14 abama 9 9 11 29
#15 abamp 11 11 14 36
#16 aband 8 8 10 26
#17 abase 7 7 8 22
#18 abash 10 10 10 30
#19 abask 11 11 12 34
#20 abate 7 7 8 22

Where 5 Letter Words Fit on the Board

At 5 letters, a word almost always uses your entire rack plus tiles already on the board these are realistically bingo-adjacent plays rather than everyday moves, which is why the list leans heavily on compound and suffixed forms (-nesses, -ation, -izing). If you're looking for words you can play more often, shorter lengths starting with A will give you far more flexible options try 5 letter words starting with A for a more practical middle ground.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the highest-scoring 5 letter word starting with a?

aback — worth 41 combined points (US Scrabble: 13, UK Scrabble: 13, Words With Friends: 15).

How many 5 letter words start with a?

1300 valid words, combining entries from NWL2023, CSW24, and the Words With Friends dictionary.

Are 5 letter words realistic to actually play?

Only occasionally — you'd need most of your rack plus letters already on the board to reach 5 tiles. They're worth knowing for the rare bingo-extension play, but for regular turns, shorter a words will come up far more often.