3 Letter Words Starting with Y
There are 27 3-letter English words that start with Y, ranging alphabetically from YAH to YUP. Top Scrabble® scorers on this list: YUK (10), YAK (10), YOK (10). The longest entry here is YAH at 3 letters.
Word list
Y
Point values shown are Scrabble® (letters only, before board bonuses). Browse deeper via the word-lists hub.
Top 10 highest-scoring words
Scored on letters only (no board bonuses). WWF uses different tile values from Scrabble — J, Q and Z are worth 10 points in WWF; X is worth 8.
| # | Word | Scrabble | WWF |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | yuk | 10 | 10 |
| 2 | yak | 10 | 9 |
| 3 | yok | 10 | 9 |
| 4 | yaw | 9 | 8 |
| 5 | yew | 9 | 8 |
| 6 | yow | 9 | 8 |
| 7 | yah | 9 | 7 |
| 8 | yay | 9 | 7 |
| 9 | yeh | 9 | 7 |
| 10 | yum | 8 | 9 |
Strategy for this list
Y is worth 4 in Scrabble and starts ~1,500 words. Y is unusual because it acts as both consonant and vowel and appears at the end of adjectives (-Y suffix). Y-openers include YAZZ (not legal), YAWN, YAWL. In Wordle, Y is more common as a position-5 letter than as position-1.
FAQs
How many 3-letter words start with Y?
27 valid 3-letter English words begin with Y in the ENABLE English word list.
Are these valid in Wordle and Scrabble?
Words on this page come from the ENABLE English word list. UK Scrabble (Collins Scrabble Words) accepts the overwhelming majority; a handful may not be legal in the North American NASPA Word List (NWL2023).