3-Letter Words

Three-letter words are the workhorses of tile games. They turn dead racks into points, open up parallel plays, and hook onto existing words to score in two directions at once. This list covers every valid three-letter word in the ENABLE dictionary, from everyday words like CAT and RUN to game-winning oddities like QAT, ZAX, and XIS.

Quick facts

  • There are 972 3-letter words in the ENABLE dictionary.
  • The most common starting letters are A (71), P (62), S (62), T (57), B (52).
  • The most common final letters are E (84), T (84), S (70), N (69), D (60).

Game tip

In Scrabble and Words with Friends, memorizing the three-letter words that use Q, X, Z, and J (QAT, ZAX, XIS, JOW) pays off more than almost any other study time, because they rescue otherwise unplayable racks.

Browse 3-letter words by first letter

Other word lengths