5 Letter Words with I as 2nd and R as 3rd Letter

Ninety two words hold I second and R third, and no opening letter gets anywhere near a majority.

The IR Words You Will Reach For

FIRST, GIRLS, BIRTH, VIRUS and FIRMS are the most common. BIRDS, DIRTY, TIRED and WIRED all come up regularly.

The Front of an IR Word Tells You Almost Nothing

B, G, M, S and V each open nine of the ninety two, with F just behind on eight. Nineteen letters appear in that box altogether and none of them dominates.

The IRED and IRTH Clusters Are Where IR Words Bunch

AIRED, FIRED, HIRED, TIRED and WIRED all take the same two closing letters, and BIRTH, FIRTH, GIRTH and YIRTH do the same with TH. E leads the fourth box on twenty four and T follows on eleven.

Both clusters differ in the first box alone, which is exactly the box this pattern cannot help you with. That combination makes IR harder to finish than its size suggests.

S Dominates the Ending of IR Words

S closes thirty nine of the ninety two, forty two percent, far ahead of H on nine. Testing for a plural early is the most efficient move available.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is FIRST or GIRLS the better opening

FIRST tests the S and T without repeating. GIRLS confirms the commonest ending but leaves the crowded part of the group untouched.

Why is the IR sound spelled this way

The R changes the vowel in front of it, which is why BIRD and FIRM sound nothing like BID and FIG. Spelling keeps the I even though the sound has shifted.

What is a GIRSH

A former unit of currency in Saudi Arabia. It pads the count without ever being a plausible answer.

How do DIRER and DIRGE relate

Not at all. DIRER is the comparative of dire and a DIRGE is a funeral song, so the shared letters are pure coincidence.