Words That Start With U: Your Scrabble Cheat Sheet

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. 

Click here for more Scrabble cheat sheets.

Sources: 

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

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