Words That Start With R: Your Scrabble Cheat Sheet

Do you remember a time when you found yourself ruminating over the most relevant word? Refrain from reliving this heartbreak. Reinforce your vocabulary and resolve to rejoice in more R-words. Whether you’re romping through a relaxed game (like Scrabble or Words with Friends) or rushing to rewrite a research paper, reward yourself by ratcheting up your resources. We recommend reaching for some R-words to expand your repertoire. R is the 18th letter of the English alphabet, but it reappears in many reliable words! If you’re looking to reinvent your vocabulary, get ready to recognize all the ravishing words that start with the letter R

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 R; however, it’s a useful introduction to this very special letter.

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Here are some words that start with R [2-15 letter words]

15-Letter Words

reconstructible – Adjective | Capable of being built or assembled again

retinoblastomas – Noun | Malignant tumors of the retina that occur during early childhood

retrovirologist – Noun | Someone who studies any single-strand RNA viruses of the family Retroviridae

romanticization – Noun | The act of presenting situations and people in a heroic or idealized way

14-Letter Words

radiotelemeter – Noun | Equipment used for measuring the distance of an object from an observer using radio waves

rehabilitative – Adjective | Acting to restore former capacity

röntgenography – Noun | The process of making radiographs (also spelled roentgenography)

rostrocarinate – Adjective | Pertaining to a chipped, flint artifact with a beaklike shape found in Suffolk, England

13-Letter Words

replenishment – Noun | The act of refilling or building up again

resynthesizes – Verb | Produces something again by the union of chemical elements or the degradation of a complex compound

reverberating – Verb | Echoing, resounding

rubbernecking – Verb | Observing with exaggerated curiosity 

12-Letter Words

radicalizing – Verb | Making someone or something politically extreme

radiographic – Adjective | Pertaining to a picture produced on a sensitive surface by a form of radiation besides light

relationship – Noun | A romantic or friendly attachment

retroflexion – Noun | The state of being bent back

11-Letter Words

rabbitbrush – Noun | Shrubby, North American plants of the genera Chrysothamnus, Ericameria, and Lorandersonia

recognizing – Verb | Acknowledging and taking notice

requalifies – Verb | Passes examinations again

retrofitted – Verb | Equipped with new parts and features after manufacture

10-Letter Words

ragamuffin – Noun | A ragged child

razzmatazz – Noun | A colorful, ostentatious action or display

redundancy – Noun | The use of unnecessary words and phrases to express an idea

ribbonwood – Noun | A small evergreen found in New Zealand, used for furniture-making

9-Letter Words

radiogram – Noun | A message transmitted using Morse code sent via radio waves

rasterize – Verb | To convert into pixels

reexamine – Verb | To consider again

rockslide – Noun | A cascade of rocks down a hillside

8-Letter Words

radiance – Noun | The quality of glowing or giving off light

reworked – Verb | Made edits prior to publication

rhapsody – Noun | A state of ecstasy

rumpling – Verb | Creating wrinkles and creases in something

7-Letter Words

raccoon – Noun | A small, North American mammal with a black mask and a ringed tail

raceway – Noun | A conduit for electrical wires in a building

racquet – Noun | A tool with nylon netting across an oval frame, used in games of tennis, racquetball, or badminton

requiem – Noun | A Catholic mass for the dead

6-Letter Words

raceme – Noun | An arrangement of flowers growing at equal distances across an elongated axis, with the oldest flowers at the base

rachis – Noun | The spinal column

record – Verb | To document in writing

rocket – noun | A projectile propelled through the air by the rearward discharge of the gases

5-Letter Words

acer – Noun | A person or animal participating in a race

racker – Noun | An attendant who places balls in the rack before a billiards or pool game

radix – Noun | The point of origin, primary source

radon – Noun | Radioactive element resulting from the decay of radium

rajah – Noun | An Indian noble or landlord (also spelled raja)

raker – Noun | Someone who scrapes a pronged tool across the ground

rammy – Noun | A chaotic, noisy commotion (Scottish English)

redux – Adjective | Brought back

remix – Noun | A rearranged or altered version of an original recording

roque – Noun | Croquet played on a raised court with a low wall

4-Letter Words

racy – Adjective | Vigorous, lively

raff – Noun | Rabble or riffraff

raga – Noun | Indian improvised music, based on a traditional scale

raia – Noun | A non-Muslim within the Ottoman Empire (also spelled rayah) 

raku – Noun | Japanese pottery fired at a low temperature

rale – Noun | Abnormal crackling heard on auscultation of the chest

rami – Noun | The branches of a nerve

rani – Noun | A Hindu queen (also spelled ranee) 

rant – Verb | To talk in a noisy, declamatory, and bombastic way

rapt – Adjective | Fully attentive and engrossed

rasp – Verb | To utter in a harsh tone

rath – Noun | A circular enclosure, often the dwelling of an ancient Irish chief

raze – Verb | To destroy completely, down to the ground (also spelled rase)

razz – Verb | To heckle

ream – Noun | A unit of paper, measuring 480, 500, or 516 sheets

reck – Verb | To worry

redd – Noun | A place where fish spawn or nest

rede – Verb | To advise

reif – Noun | The act of plunder

repo – Adjective | Pertaining to the business of repossessing property

rhea – Noun | South American ratite birds, similar to small ostriches

riff – Noun | An ostinato phrase, often accompanying solo improvisation 

ritz – Noun | A gaudy display

romp – Verb | To play happily

rood – Noun | A British measurement of land equal to 1/4 acre

roux – Noun | A mixture of fat and flour designed to thicken a soup or sauce

ruck – Noun | A jumble

rudd – Noun | A freshwater cyprinid fish

ruff – Noun | A spotted freshwater perch

rump – Noun | A butcher’s cut of meat between the loin and round

3-Letter Words

rah – Interjection | An expression of encouragement

rax – Verb | To stretch (Scottish English)

reb – Noun | A confederate soldier

rho – Noun | The 17th letter of the greek alphabet

ria – Noun | A valley that has been submerged by sea level rise to form an inlet

rut – Noun | Breeding season for animals such as deer and elk

rya – Noun | A Scandinavian rug

2-Letter Words

re – Noun | The second tone of the major scale

By looking at this list, you may be able to identify some common prefixes. Words that start with “re” often have something to do repetition. Words beginning with “radio” frequently involve radiant energy or radio waves. Understanding these linguistic patterns can help you to intuit what a word means, even when you don’t have a dictionary handy.

Realize your potential by reciting rhymes, regularly using words that start with the letter R. Revel in your role as the reigning champion of word finders, anagram jumbles, and crossword puzzles. Receive rave reviews for your rousing recitations. From re to reconstructible, this word list really rewards those who revisit it. Just remember to review the new terms regularly, and you’ll be ready to regale your friends with R-words right away.

Click here for more Scrabble cheat sheets.

Sources: 

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

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