Word Unscrambler With Wildcards
Use ? or _ for blank letters. Find words even when you do not know every letter.
Use ? or _ for blank letters. You can enter up to 20 letters.
Advanced Filters
Enter your letters above and click Unscramble to find words.
Try a wildcard example:
How Wildcards Work
Wildcards are special characters that represent any letter. In this word unscrambler, both the question mark (?) and the underscore (_) function as wildcards. When the tool encounters a wildcard in your input, it treats that position as a letter that could be anything from A to Z, and finds all words that match.
For example, entering C?T will find CAT, COT, CUT, and any other three-letter word starting with C and ending with T. Entering A?ERT will find ALERT and other words where the second letter is unknown. You can use multiple wildcards: S?A?E finds words like SCARE, STAGE, SHAKE, and SHARE.
Using Wildcards for Blank Tiles
If you play tile-based word games like Scrabble or Words With Friends, you may have blank tiles that can represent any letter. Enter ? or _ for each blank tile, and the tool will find all words that could be formed with your known letters plus the blanks.
For example, if your rack contains the letters RATE plus a blank tile, enter RATE? to find all 4-letter words from RATE plus any fifth letter, as well as 5-letter words that can be formed. This is an independent tool and is not affiliated with any game publisher.
Repeated Letters and Wildcards
By default, the tool uses each letter no more times than it appears in your input. Wildcards add to your available letter pool, so entering RATE? gives you the letters R, A, T, E, plus one wildcard that can be any letter. If you enable "Allow Repeated Letters," the tool lets letters be used more times than available, which can produce more results but may include words you cannot actually form with your tiles.
Wildcard Tips
- Use wildcards strategically for positions where any letter could work.
- Combine wildcards with the Contains filter when you know some letters but not their positions.
- Limit to 3 wildcards to keep results manageable.
- Set a word length filter when using wildcards to avoid too many results.
Read our detailed wildcard guide for more examples.
Frequently Asked Questions
What characters can I use as wildcards?
You can use the question mark (?) or the underscore (_). Both work the same way — they represent any letter from A to Z.
How many wildcards can I use?
You can use up to 3 wildcards in a single search. Using more than 3 can produce very large result sets and slow down the search.
Do wildcards work with all filters?
Yes. Wildcards work with word length, starts with, ends with, contains, and all other filters. You can combine them freely.
Can I use wildcards for blank tiles?
Yes. Wildcards are perfect for blank tiles in tile-based word games. Enter ? or _ for each blank tile you have.