Here are the 50 most played 6-letter words in Scrabble when the OWL2 official tournament word list is used. The words are presented in playrank order, meaning QINTAR is the most played 6-letter word, TRANQS is the second most played, and so on down the list
1. qintar
2. tranqs
3. equate
4. equids
5. qindar
6. faqirs
7. roquet
8. qanats
9. qiviut
10. equine
11. djinni
12. quinoa
13. zaires
14. quotha
15. virtue
16. quoter
17. outvie
18. quinte
19. equips
20. foveae
21. toquet
22. queens
23. fiques
24. quoins
25. waiver
26. quarto
27. azines
28. avowed
29. quaere
30. toonie
31. quired
32. azoted
33. etoile
34. feijoa
35. quoted
36. queans
37. liquor
38. avenue
39. querns
40. aerier
41. quango
42. quanta
43. iolite
44. agouti
45. zeatin
46. joiner
47. ozones
48. aviate
49. jivers
50. zanier
Even the most used 6-letter words don't get played very often. Scanning the list, it's clear that most of these words are being played as a way to utilize a "Q"; although in some cases, it was a "Z" or "J" or even a "V" that was being utilized.
Many of the words in this list can be grown from a 5-letter word by adding one letter to the start or end of the 5-letter word. For example, the word EQUIDS can be formed from QUIDS by adding an "E" to the front. In the list below, we show the 5-letter words that can be grown to create the 6-letter words in the previous list:
1.
2. tranq
3. quate
4. equid OR quids
5.
6. faqir
7. roque
8. qanat
9.
10.
11. djinn OR jinni
12.
13. zaire
14. quoth
15. virtu
16. quote
17.
18. quint
19. equip OR quips
20. fovea
21. toque
22. queen
23. fique
24. quoin
25. waive OR aiver
26. quart
27. azine OR zines
28. vowed
29.
30.
31. quire
32. azote
33. toile
34.
35. quote
36. quean
37.
38. venue
39. quern
40. aerie
41.
42. quant
43.
44.
45.
46.
47. ozone OR zones
48.
49. jiver
50.
The prevalence of "grown" words in the first list suggests that 6-letter words are most often played indirectly by adding a letter to an existing 5-letter word. In any event, remembering how words can be grown from other words is very useful.
These lists are original research from ScrabbleGuru.com. Come visit us for more!