5 Letter Words Starting With O
There are 389 valid 5 letter words that start with O, 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)
oakum - 11 points
UK Scrabble (CSW)
oakum - 11 points
Words With Friends
oakum - 13 points
5 Letter Words (389)
View all words starting with OTop 20 Highest-Scoring 5 Letter Words Starting With o
Point values shown for US Scrabble, UK Scrabble, and Words With Friends. The average across this full 389 word list is 22.6 combined points.
| Rank | Word | US Scrabble | UK Scrabble | WWF Points | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | oadal | 6 | 6 | 7 | 19 |
| #2 | oaked | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 |
| #3 | oaken | 9 | 9 | 10 | 28 |
| #4 | oaker | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 |
| 🏆 #5 | oakum | 11 | 11 | 13 | 35 |
| #6 | oared | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 |
| #7 | oaric | 7 | 7 | 8 | 22 |
| #8 | oasal | 5 | 5 | 6 | 16 |
| #9 | oases | 5 | 5 | 5 | 15 |
| #10 | oasis | 5 | 5 | 5 | 15 |
| #11 | oasts | 5 | 5 | 5 | 15 |
| #12 | oaten | 5 | 5 | 6 | 16 |
| #13 | oater | 5 | 5 | 5 | 15 |
| #14 | oaths | 8 | 8 | 7 | 23 |
| #15 | oaves | 8 | 8 | 9 | 25 |
| #16 | obang | 8 | 8 | 11 | 27 |
| #17 | obeah | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 |
| #18 | obeli | 7 | 7 | 9 | 23 |
| #19 | obese | 7 | 7 | 8 | 22 |
| #20 | obeys | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 |
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 O will give you far more flexible options try 5 letter words starting with O for a more practical middle ground.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the highest-scoring 5 letter word starting with o?
oakum — worth 35 combined points (US Scrabble: 11, UK Scrabble: 11, Words With Friends: 13).
How many 5 letter words start with o?
389 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 o words will come up far more often.