Words That Start With P: Your Scrabble Cheat Sheet

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.

Click here for more Scrabble cheat sheets.

Sources: 

  1. https://word.tips/words-start-with/p/
  2. https://www.merriam-webster.com
  3. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/
  4. https://www.dictionary.com

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