Picture yourself puzzling over the perfect word. You can avoid this problem by plumping up your vocabulary and building phrasal proficiency. Whether you’re playing games (like Scrabble or Words with Friends) or pumping out an essay, you’ll get pleasure from putting some new words on parade. Plan to publish a periodical or a picture book? Pile some P-words into your prose. P is the 16th letter of the English alphabet, but it presents first in many potent and powerful words! If you’re looking to possess a plentiful vocabulary, prepare to pore over words that start with the letter P.
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 P; however, it’s a useful introduction to this very special letter.
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Here are some words that start with P [2-15 letter words]
15-Letter Words
paleogeographic – Adjective | Pertaining to the geography of ancient times
phototypography – Noun | A printing process that involves the use of photography
postapocalyptic – Adjective | Occurring or existing after a catastrophic disaster
psychobiography – Noun | The application of a psychoanalytic point of view to biography writing
14-Letter Words
pachydermatous – Adjective | Thickened, callous
philanthropist – Noun | Someone who donates money to humanitarian causes
plasticization – Noun | The process of changing a polymer’s structure to make it more bendable
psychoacoustic – Adjective | Pertaining to the study of how subjects perceive sound and respond to auditory stimuli
13-Letter Words
parasymbiotic – Adjective | Pertaining to the symbiotic relationship that occurs between certain species of fungi and lichens
photocopiable – Adjective | Able or legally permitted to be copied using a process in which an image is formed by the action of light on an electrically charged surface
polysynthetic – Adjective | Characterized by uniting many parts into one
primogenitrix – Noun | The earliest female ancestor
12-Letter Words
paraphrasing – Verb | Restating a text or work in order to convey its meaning in other language
persuasively – Adverb | In a convincing manner
postmedieval – Adjective | Pertaining to the period following the Middle Ages
pumpernickel – Noun | A dark, heavy bread made with unbolted rye
11-Letter Words
perceivable – Adjective | Possible to observe
prefreezing – Verb | Dropping to icy temperatures beforehand
prospective – Adjective | Expected
photophobic – Adjective | Avoiding light
10-Letter Words
phonotypic – Adjective | Pertaining to text printed in phonetic symbols
polychromy -Noun | The process of combining multiple colors
prebooking – Verb | Reserving something in advance
psychiatry – Noun | The branch of medicine concerned with mental disorders
9-Letter Words
paparazzo – Noun | A freelance photographer who takes candid celebrity photos
photobomb – Verb | To move into the frame of a photograph as a prank
polymorph – Noun | An organism that assumes different forms
pull-quote – Noun | An excerpted line or phrase printed in a larger font, meant to draw attention to the text
8-Letter Words
pancakes – Noun | A thin, flat cake of batter cooked on both sides
pathetic – Adjective | Pitifully inferior
pint-size – Adjective | Tiny
puzzling – Adjective | Difficult to solve
7-Letter Words
pachuco – Noun | A teenage youth who belongs to a street gang, especially one known for its flashy style
packwax – Noun | A neck ligament (also spelled paxwax)
paddock – Noun | An enclosed field for animals
padlock – Noun | A removable lock with pivoted or sliding shackle
6-Letter Words
pacify – Verb | To soothe
paging – Verb | Turning the pages
peachy – Adjective | Fine and dandy
phooey – Interjection | An expression of repudiation
5-Letter Words
pacha – Noun | A civil or military official of the Ottoman Empire (also spelled pasha)
panda – Noun | A large, bear-like animal, found in Central China
parka – Noun | A hooded pullover made of fur for arctic weather
poker – Noun | A metal rod used to stir a fire
4-Letter Words
paca – Noun | A Central or South American rodent of the genus Cuniculus
pacy – Adjective | Able to move quickly (also spelled pacey)
padi – Noun | Wet area used to grow rice (also spelled paddy)
palp – Verb | To feel
paly – Adjective | Divided into equal, vertical stripes with alternating colors
pare – Verb | To trim off excess
pash – Verb | To smash
pate – Noun | The crown of the head
pech – Verb | To pant (Scottish English)
puck – Noun | A disc in ice hockey
puja – Noun | A hindu rite or festival (also spelled pooja or poojah)
puma – Noun | A cougar found in North America
3-Letter Words
pah – Interjection | Expression of disbelief or disgust
pax – Noun | A kiss of peace in the Mass, at a baptism, etc.
ped – Noun | A naturally-ocurring soil aggregate
pho – Noun | Vietnamese soup made of broth and rice noodles
pix – Noun | A container for carrying the Eucharist (also spelled pyx)
poh – Interjection | An expression of contempt
pom – Noun | A disparaging term for an English person (Australian English)
poo – Noun | Excrement
pug – Noun | A small, short-haired dog with a flat, wrinkle face
pul – Noun | An Afghan unit of currency
pur – Noun | The sound a contented cat makes (also spelled purr)
pye – Noun | A book of rules for finding the daily church service (also spelled pye)
2-Letter Words
pa – Noun | Father
pe – Noun | The 17th letter of the Hebrew alphabet (also spelled peh)
pi – Noun | the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet
po – Noun | A chamberpot (British English)
By looking at this list, you may be able to identify some common prefixes. Words that start with “psycho” often have something to do with the mind. Words beginning with “poly” may involve multitudes. Understanding these linguistic patterns can help you to intuit what a word means, even when you don’t have a dictionary handy.
We promise you’ll propel your language to precipitous heights by picking phrases that start with the letter P. Prevail over the opposing parties, when you take a pass at word finders, anagram jumbles, and crossword puzzles. Politely plot for preeminence at a plethora of different pastimes. From po to paleogeographic, this word list will promote personal progress. Just practice a pair of new terms a day, and you’ll be pattering away with P-words pronto.
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Kari Lisa Johnson
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.
