What Letter Starts the Fewest Words in English
When it comes to letters that start words in English, E is by far the most popular. It starts more words than any other letter, including J and Q. But what about X? Can you name five words that start with Xylophone and X-ray? Xenization, xenial and xenography are three more words that begin with X.
X
If you’re trying to think of words that start with x, your list might be short. After all, a xylophone and an x-ray are the first words that come to mind. But if you look at the Oxford English Dictionary, you’ll find that there are only 400 words that start with x.
This letter is considered to be one of the least used letters in English. But what does this mean in practice? It all depends on your definition of rarity. If you’re a cryptologist, for example, you might agree that j, q, and z are the rarest letters in English.
A
There are a lot of words that start with the letter A. Some of them are very common, such as apple and banana, while others are less commonly used, such as affluent and synapsis.
But what letter starts the fewest words in English? It probably won’t come as a surprise that the letter X starts the fewest words in English. You’ll find only about 400 words in the Oxford English Dictionary that start with X, including xylophone and x-ray. The other letters that are less commonly used to start words include q, z and y.
Z
There’s always been a lot of debate about what letter starts the fewest words in English. Some sources, like those who study codes and secret writing, say j, q, and z are the least common letters. Others, such as TikTok users, disagree.
Regardless of which letters you choose to argue about, most people will agree that the most common letter in English is E. This likely won’t be a surprise to anyone who’s ever played Scrabble or Wordle. This letter starts over three times as many words as the next most common, which is C.
Q
It has been a long-running debate over which letter starts the fewest words in English. Some people argue that it’s S, while others believe it’s Q. This dispute has gone on since at least 1886.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that the letter E is found in more words than any other letter. It’s also the most commonly struck alphabet on a keyboard, and is the first letter in words like analyze and synthesize.
However, if you look at the letters that occur less often, it will be no shock that j, q, and x appear the least frequently in English. Trying to name five words that start with x—xylophone and x-ray are not easy!
Y
Vowels usually dominate the list of most common letter starters. Only the rarely used Y doesn’t make the top 10. For example, words like ghyll and Scyld can start with the vowels E or O and end with consonants such as C, T, and N.
In the dictionary, there are just 400 words that start with X. Xenization, xenial, and xylophone are three such words. But it’s probably much easier to show kindergarteners a xylophone than to explain what xenization means.
There are many other 5 letter words to choose from that start with the letter y. Some examples include agree, arise, agitate, and saute.
J
It may not come as a surprise to Scrabble players that S starts the most words. It’s followed by E and A, then T and R. And if you’re looking for a good scrabble word finder, we recommend “ANTRE.”
As for what letter starts the least words, that depends on your definition of rarity. There are opinions that the letters J, Q and Z appear the least often, but they’re also used in many languages. And the fact that they were once used as part of a coded language makes them less likely to show up in other words.
V
The letter V comes in last place for words that start with it. It’s the least used word that starts with a letter in English, which is not very surprising since it only has around 400 words starting with it in the dictionary.
It’s also hard to find words that start with X. You’ll most likely think of a few, like xylophone or x-ray, but the only other words that start with this letter are xenization and xenial. This probably won’t come as a surprise to Scrabble players or people who play Wordle.