Everyone needs useful and user-friendly vocabulary words. Whether you’re playing games (like Scrabble or Words with Friends) or writing for an ultraleftist (or ultrarightest) newspaper, you’ll usually see an uptick in understanding when you use U-words. Although it’s the 21st letter of the English alphabet; U comes first in a number of ubiquitous words. It’s undeniable! If you need an unassuming way to show off your urbane vocabulary or underscore your university degree, try unveiling a few underrated words that start with the letter U.
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 N; however, it’s a useful introduction to this very special letter.
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Here are some words that start with U [2-15 letter words]
15-Letter Words
ultimobranchial – Adjective | Pertaining to a hollow vesicle that is formed from the fourth pharyngeal pouch or may represent a fifth pharyngeal pouch
unadulteratedly – Adverb | In a pure and complete way
unconditionally – Adverb | With no restrictions, limits, or conditions
unobtrusiveness – Noun | The state of being inconspicuous, not aggressive
14-Letter Words
ubiquitousness – Noun | Omnipresence, the state of being everywhere at the same time
unappreciative – Adjective | Showing no gratitude
unavailability – Noun | The state of being impossible to get or use
understandably – Adverb | For easy-to-comprehend reasons
13-Letter Words
ultrarightist – Noun | A person who advocates extreme right-wing policies and positions
uninquisitive – Adjective | Devoid of curiosity
unmistakeably – Adverb | In a clear manner, in a manner incapable of being misunderstood
urogynecology – Noun | A branch of medicine concerned with urinary or urogenital tract problems affecting women
12-Letter Words
ultraleftist – Noun | A person who advocates extreme left-wing policies and positions
unclassified – Adjective | Not subject to security classification, not secret
underexposed – Adjective | Dark, due to insufficient exposure to radiation
universality – Noun | The quality or state of being ever-present and all-inclusive
11-Letter Words
ultraviolet – Adjective | Light situated beyond the visible spectrum at its violet end
underbidder – Noun | A card player who bids less than the strength of their hand warrants
undisclosed – Adjective | Not made known
undoubtedly – Adverb | In an undisputed manner
10-Letter Words
ultraquiet – Adjective | Producing less sound than would normally be expected
underbaked – Verb | Baked insufficiently
uniqueness – Noun | The state of being distinctive or one-of-a-kind
university – Noun | An institution of higher learning, especially one able to confer both undergraduate and advanced degrees
9-Letter Words
umpteenth – Adjective | Indefinitely numerous, especially in a succession
unequaled – Adjective | Without parallel, better
underpaid – Verb | Compensated less than what is normal or required
unknowing – Noun | Ignorance
8-Letter Words
ubiquity – Noun | Omnipresence, the state of being everywhere at the same time
ulterior – Adjective | Going beyond what is avowed or what is proper
underway – Adverb | In progress, currently happening
unifying – Verb | Making into a coherent whole, uniting
7-Letter Words
umbrage – Noun | Offense at a perceived slight
uncanny – Adjective | Eerie, supernatural
uniform – Adjective | Consistent, never varying
unnamed – Adjective | Anonymous, not named
6-Letter Words
uakari – Noun | Short-tailed Amazonian monkeys of the genus Cacajao
ubiety – Noun | The state of being in a place, position, or location
ubique – Adverb | Everywhere
uglify – Verb | To make unattractive
ukulele – Noun | A small, four-stringed guitar, often associated with Hawaiian music (also spelled ukelele and abbreviated as uke)
ultimo – Adjective| Pertaining to the month preceding the current month
umlaut – Noun | A diacritical mark, consisting of two dots (¨), that indicates a change in vowel sound
umpire – Noun | A person selected to rule on plays during a sporting event
uncock – Verb | To remove the hammer of a firearm from the ready position
unpack – Verb | To remove the contents from something
upkeep – Noun | The act of maintaining the condition of an establishment, machine, or person
upshot – Noun | The outcome
uptick – Noun | An increase
5-Letter Words
udder – Noun | Two or more mammary glands enclosed in a baggy teat, as with cows
uhlan – Noun | A Prussian light cavalry unit, containing a group of lancers (also spelled ulan)
ukase – Noun | An edict from a czarist Russian emperor or government
ulema – Noun | The body of mullahs, who are Muslim clerics and scholars (also spelled ulama)
umami – Noun | A savory taste, produced by some amino acids and nucleotides
umbel – Noun | A flower cluster in which stalks or pedicels of the same length spread from a common center, typical of the carrot family
umber – Noun | Brown pigment made from earth
umble – Adjective | Pertaining to a pie made from deer innards, given to servants after a hunt (British English)
unbox – Verb | To remove from a box and packaging
umiak – Noun | A hide covered boat, used by indigenous people in arctic Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and eastern Siberia (also spelled umiac)
unarm – Verb | To divest of weapons
undid – Verb | Reversed an action or erased
unhip – Adjective | Uncool or outdated
unmew – Verb | To set free, release from confinement
unpeg – Verb | To unfasten or unfix, as if by removing a peg
unrig – Verb | To strip of rigging or equipment
unsex – Verb | To spay or castrate
untie – Verb | To set loose by undoing a knot
unzip – Verb | To pull a zipper open
usurp – Verb | To seize or hold power without legal right
4-Letter Words
udon – Noun | Thick Japanese wheat noodle, often served in a soup
ulna -Noun | Bone of the human forearm on the pinky-finger side
ulva – Noun | Marine green algae of the genus Ulva, also called sea lettuce
umbo – Noun | The boss, or protuberance, of a shield
unau – Noun | A two-toed sloth
unbe – Verb | To stop being
unci – Noun | Hook-shaped or curved anatomical parts or processes
undé – Adjective | Wavy, as in the case of lines (also spelled undée, ondé, ondy, or undy)
upas – Noun | A mulberry tree, Antiaris toxicaria, with whitish bark used to make arrow poison
updo- Noun | An upswept hairstyle
uvea – Noun | The pigmented middle layer of the eye, which includes the iris, choroid coat, and ciliary body
3-Letter Words
ugh – Interjection | Expression of disgust
ulu – Noun | Traditional knife used by Eskimo women
urb – Noun | An urban area (British English)
urd – Noun | An annual Asian legume with edible seeds
uta – Noun | An iguanid lizard, found in Mexico and the western United States
ute – Noun | Utility vehicle (Australian English)
2-Letter Words
uh – Interjection | An expression of hesitation
um – Interjection | An expression of hesitation
up – Adverb | In or into a higher position, further from the ground
us – Pronoun | Objective case of we
By looking at this list, you may be able to identify some common prefixes. Words that start with “ultra” often have something to do with something extreme or beyond the norm. Words beginning with “uni” involve the number one. Understanding these linguistic patterns can help you to intuit what a word means, even when you don’t have a dictionary handy.
Use words that start with the letter U to undermine your adversaries. Unseat the undefeated champions of word finders, word jumbles, and crossword puzzles by unleashing your umpteenth U-word. No one will be able to take umbrage with the . upset. From us to ultimobranchial, this word list will unlock your undercover word-lover. Study these words, and you’ll be uttering unusual words with unprecedented urgency in no time.
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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.
