Everyone wants to build a bountiful vocabulary. Between Words with Friends and crossword puzzles, you’ll blow away both buddies and rivals by boosting your usage of the letter B. Want to boast a battery of brilliant blog posts? Bandy about some B-words. B is the 2nd letter of the English alphabet, but B comes first in a bevy of beautiful, bewitching, and beneficial words! So, if you believe your vocabulary could be better, bolster it by boning up on words that begin with the letter B.
We’ve created this list of words for you, organized by the number of letters in each word. Many of these words have more than one meaning. For simplicity, we’ve only listed one definition for each word. Keep in mind, this word list doesn’t contain every single English word that starts with B; however, it’s a useful introduction to this very special letter.
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Here are some words that start with B [2-15 letter words]
15-Letter Words
bacteriological – Adjective | Pertaining to the study of bacteria as it relates to medicine, industry, and agriculture
biomechanically – Adverb | In regard to the mechanics of biological, especially muscular, activity
brokenheartedly – Adverb | In the manner of a person overcome with despair
bureaucratizing – Verb | Developing into a bureaucracy, a system known for specialization of functions, adherence to fixed rules, and a hierarchy of authority
14-Letter Words
bacteriologist – Noun | A scientist who studies bacteria as it relates to medicine, industry, and agriculture
bibliomaniacal – Adjective | Pertaining to an extreme attraction to collecting books
bioluminescent – Adjective | Pertaining to the light produced by living organisms
biomathematics – Noun | Math that is of special use to the fields of biology and medicine
13-Letter Words
baccalaureate – Noun | A bachelor’s degree given by colleges and universities
bacteriophage – Noun | Any virus that infects bacteria
balkanization – Noun | The process of bing divided into small, quarrelsome units
believability – Noun | The quality of being reliable or credible
bibliographer – Noun | One who compiles a list of sources
12-Letter Words
bachelorette – Noun | A young, single woman
bachelorhood – Noun | The condition of being an unmarried man
backgrounder – Noun | An informal briefing, often given to reporters off-the-record
battleground – Noun | The location where a battle happens
11-Letter Words
backcountry – Noun | A remote, rural area
beachcomber – Noun | A person who searches the shore for salable jetsam, seashells, refuse, etc.
beneficiary – Noun | A person designated to receive benefits through a trust or insurance policy
blameworthy – Adjective | At fault
10-Letter Words
babysitter – Noun | A person charged with caring for children during a short absence of parents
backgammon – Noun | A two-person board game played with dice and counters
backhanded – Adjective | Indirect, ambiguous in meaning
barophilic – Adjective | Thriving in atmospheres with high pressure
9-Letter Words
bacchanal – Noun | An enthusiastic reveler
backbiter – Noun | Someone who speaks ill of an absent party
balconied – Adjective | Possessing a balcony
ballerina – Noun | A female ballet dancer
8-Letter Words
backdoor – Adjective | Devious
backfire – Verb | To cause a result opposite the one intended
backhand – Noun | A stroke made with the back of the hand in the direction of the movement
backroom – Adjective | Behind-the-scenes, hidden
baritone – Noun | A male vocal part between tenor and bass
bequeath – Verb | To hand down through a will
7-Letter Words
babbitt – Noun | An alloy of tin used to decrease friction for bearings
backlog – Noun | A queue of unperformed tasks or unprocessed materials
bagpipe – Noun | An instrument consisting of a reed melody pipe and drone pipes, powered with air blown through a windbag by mouth or bellows
bailiff – Noun | An officer in a U.S. courtroom
bonanza – Noun | An extravaganza
brownie – Noun | A bar of moist chocolate cake
buyback – Noun | The buying back of its own stock by a company on the open market
6-Letter Words
babble – Verb | To vocalize unintelligibly
baboon – Noun | A primate of the genus Papio
backer – Noun | A financier for a project, person, or organization
baffle – Verb | To confuse completely
banter – Verb | To exchange witty remarks
berate – Verb | To scold
5-Letter Words
baggy – Adjective | Loosely hanging
balmy – Adjective | Mild, soothing
banjo – Noun | A fretted instrument with a circular body and four or five strings
bawdy – Adjective | Lewd and indecent
blitz – Noun | An air raid
4-Letter Words
baft – Noun | A course, cotton-based, Indian fabric
bane – Noun | A source of ruin
barm – Noun | A yeast that forms on a fermenting malt liquor
burr – Noun | Something that clings, a hanger-on (also spelled bur)
3-Letter Words
baa – Verb | To bleat like a sheep
bah – Interjection | An expression of disdain
bam – Noun | A loud thud
bap – Noun | A small, flat bread roll
2-Letter Words
be – Verb | To have objective existence
by – Preposition | Near
By looking at this list, you may be able to identify some common prefixes. Words that start with “bio-” often have something to do with living things. Words beginning with “bibl-” involve books. Understanding these linguistic patterns can help you to intuit what a word means, even when you don’t have a dictionary handy.
Use words beginning with B to bestow backhanded compliments or engage in bawdy banter. Belt out a baritone part or babble some blank verse. Once you’ve become the boss of this B-list, no word finder will ever bewilder you again. From by to bacteriological, you’ll be blessed with the ability to blab B-words with the best of them.
I’m an award-winning playwright with a penchant for wordplay. After earning a perfect score on the Writing SAT, I worked my way through Brown University by moonlighting as a Kaplan Test Prep tutor. I received a BA with honors in Literary Arts (Playwriting)—which gave me the opportunity to study under Pulitzer Prize-winner Paula Vogel. In my previous roles as new media producer with Rosetta Stone, director of marketing for global ventures with The Juilliard School, and vice president of digital strategy with Up & Coming Media, I helped develop the voice for international brands. From my home office in Maui, Hawaii, I currently work on freelance and ghostwriting projects.
Kari Lisa Johnson
June 29, 2020
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