5-Letter Words that Start With C | Ultimate List of 150+ Words
5-letter words that start with C can help you excel at word puzzles or improve your vocabulary. A few familiar examples are “cabin,” “claim,” “could,” and “cross,” while some less common 5-letter words starting with C include “cairn,” “cetyl,” and “coupe.”
This article contains curated lists of 150+ words that will help you solve the puzzle of the day, score points in word games, or simply expand your vocabulary. Teachers can also use these 5-letter words that start with C in lesson plans centered around the letter C, vocabulary lists, crosswords, word walls, and more.
Want a different list of words? Ask QuillBot’s AI Chat to prepare a list for any letter of the alphabet, part of speech, or theme.
Table of contents
- 5-letter words starting with C: The complete list
- Best 5-letter Wordle openers starting with C
- High-scoring 5-letter words that start with C
- 5-letter words that start with C sorted by ending letter
- 15 advanced 5-letter words that start with C
- Frequently asked questions about 5-letter words that start with C
5-letter words starting with C: The complete list
This list includes common and rare 5-letter words that start with C, organized by the first two letters of each word. Check out the groups below to find the perfect words for your game, project, or lesson.
- CA: Cabin, cable, cache, cacti, caddy, cadet, cairn, camel, cameo, canal, candy, canoe, canon, caper, carat, cargo, carol, carry, carve, caste, catch, cater, cause
- CE: Cease, cedar, cecum, celeb, cello, cense, cetyl
- CH: Chafe, chain, chair, chalk, champ, chaos, chaps, chard, charm, chary, chase, chasm, cheap, cheat, check, cheer, chess, chest, chief, child, chili, chill, chime, china, chirp, chive, chock, choir, choke, chomp, chord, chose, chuck, chunk, chute
- CI: Cider, cigar, cilia, cinch, circa, civic, civil
- CL: Claim, clamp, clank, clash, clasp, clean, clear, clerk, click, cliff, climb, clink, cloak, clock, clone, close, cloth, cloud, clout, clove
- CO: Coach, coast, cobra, cocoa, colon, color, comet, comic, conga, copse, coral, corgi, couch, cough, could, count, coupe, cover, coven, covet
- CR: Crack, craft, crane, crash, crass, crave, crawl, crazy, cream, creek, crest, crime, crisp, croak, crock, croon, cross, crowd, crown, crude, cruel, crumb, crush, crypt
- CU: Cubby, cubic, cumin, curly, curry, curse, curve, cushy, cutie
- CY: Cyber, cycle, cynic
Best 5-letter Wordle openers starting with C
If you’re looking for a great Wordle opener, there are some 5-letter words that start with C that are strong options. A good strategy for your Wordle opener is to cover as many vowels and/or high-frequency consonants as possible. Here are seven strategic options:
- Canoe: Uses three vowels (A, E, O), helping you get a sense for the word’s structure from the first play.
- Cares: Combines two vowels with high-frequency consonants (C, R, S), providing balanced insight into the word.
- Chair: Tests two common vowels (A, I) and their placement (e.g., AI, IA) alongside frequent consonants (C, H, R).
- Choir: A great choice for identifying vowels without playing the letter E. It can also tell you if the word might be an agent noun, which ends in R (e.g., “racer”).
- Coast: Uses two vowels (O, A) with high-frequency consonants (C, S, T), offering strong elimination power across common endings.
- Crane: Combines two vowels (A, E) with common consonants (C, R, N), making it one of the most information-rich openers.
- Crate: Pairs two vowels (A, E) with high-frequency consonants (C, R, T), providing excellent coverage for both letter presence and position.
High-scoring 5-letter words that start with C
Looking for high-scoring words for Scrabble or Words with Friends? 5-letter words starting with C are good options, as the letter C carries 3–4 points in these word games. The 5-letter words below start with C and incorporate other high-scoring letters.
| Word | Scrabble points | WWF points |
| Crazy | 19 | 19 |
| Capiz | 18 | 20 |
| Cocky | 16 | 17 |
| Chunk | 14 | 16 |
| Champ | 14 | 16 |
| Cycle | 12 | 14 |
You can also score higher by modifying these words. Try adding prefixes (e.g., “bicycle”), attaching suffixes (e.g., “craziest”), or changing verb endings (e.g., “cycling”).
5-letter words that start with C sorted by ending letter
If you’re looking for a 5-letter word that starts with C and ends with a specific letter, the chart below can help you find the perfect one.
| Ends with | Word options |
| A | China, circa, cobra, cocoa, comma |
| B | Climb, crumb |
| C | Comic, conic, cubic, cynic |
| D | Chard, child, chord, cloud, could, creed, crowd |
| E | Cable, cache, cadre, canoe, carve, caste, cause, cease, chafe, chase, chide, chile, chime, choke, chore, chose, chute, clone, close, clove, copse, coupe, crane, crate, crave, craze, creme, crepe, crime, crone, crude, curse, curve, cutie, cycle |
| F | Chief, cliff |
| G | Clang, cling, clung |
| H | Catch, cinch, clash, cloth, coach, conch, couch, cough, crash, crush |
| I | Cacti, chili |
| K | Caulk, chalk, check, cheek, chick, chock, chuck, chunk, clank, clerk, click, clink, cloak, clock, clonk, cluck, clunk, crack, crank, creek, crick, croak, crock, crook |
| L | Cabal, camel, canal, carol, cecal, cetyl, chill, civil, coral, crawl |
| M | Cecum, charm, chasm, cream |
| N | Cabin, cairn, canon, chain, churn, clean, clown, croon, crown, cumin |
| O | Cacao, cameo, cargo, cello, chemo, combo, condo, convo |
| P | Champ, cheap, cheep, chimp, chirp, chomp, chump, clamp, clasp, clomp, clump, cramp, creep, crimp, crisp |
| S | Chaos, chess, crass, cress, cross, cutis |
| T | Cadet, carat, chart, cheat, chest, cleat, cleft, clout, coast, comet, count, court, covet, craft, crest, cruet, crust, crypt |
| Y | Caddy, cagey, cakey, campy, candy, carry, catty, chewy, cocky, comfy, corny, crazy, crony, cubby, curly, curry, curvy, cushy |
15 advanced 5-letter words that start with C
These 5-letter words that start with C are less common in everyday English. Review them and their meanings below to level up your vocabulary or your word game skills.
| Word | Part of speech | Definition |
| Cabal | Noun | A secret faction or clique engaged in intrigue |
| Cadre | Noun | A small group of trained personnel forming the core of an organization or movement |
| Caddy | Noun; verb | A small storage container; a person who carries a golfer’s clubs; to carry golf clubs |
| Cairn | Noun | A mound of rough stones built as a memorial or landmark |
| Caulk | Verb; noun | To fill or seal joints or seams in order to make them watertight; a waterproof filler and sealant |
| Cecum | Noun | A pouch at the beginning of the large intestine in humans and some animals |
| Cense | Verb | To perfume with incense, especially in a religious ritual |
| Cetyl | Noun | A chemical group often found in cosmetics to soften skin and stabilize lotions, creams, and waxes |
| Cinch | Verb; noun | to secure firmly, either literally (as in a belt) or figuratively (as in a victory); an easy task |
| Copse | Noun | A small group of trees |
| Coupe | Noun | A car with a fixed roof and two doors |
| Coven | Noun | A gathering or group of witches |
| Crass | Adjective | Lacking sensitivity, refinement, or intelligence |
| Cutis | Noun | The outer layer of skin |
| Cynic | Noun | A person who believes that people are motivated purely by self-interest and is skeptical of human sincerity or integrity |
The priest began to cense the altar during the ceremony.
Hikers followed the stone cairn marking the forest trail.
Frequently asked questions about 5-letter words that start with C
- What are some 5-letter words that start with C and end with E?
-
Some 5-letter words that start with C and end with E are:
- Cable
- Cache
- Canoe
- Carve
- Cause
- Cease
- Chide
- Chore
- Crane
- Crepe
- Curve
- Cycle
Find more 5-letter words that start with C and end with a specific letter with QuillBot’s AI Chat.
- How many 5-letter words are in the English language?
-
Depending on the dictionary you’re using, approximately 14,000 5-letter words are in the English language. Some of the most common 5-letter words include:
- About
- Above
- Could
- First
- Found
- Horse
- Money
- Other
- Point
- Right
- Should
- Their
- There
- Today
- Watch
- Which
- Would
- Write
QuillBot’s free AI Chat can show you lists of 5-letter words based on any theme.
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Santoro, K. (2026, January 27). 5-Letter Words that Start With C | Ultimate List of 150+ Words. Quillbot. Retrieved February 8, 2026, from https://quillbot.com/blog/word-finder/5-letter-words-that-start-with-c/
