Verbs That Start With U

73 words Words by letter Checked 9 Oct 2026

These verbs that start with U come from a standard English dictionary used for word games, ranked by how often each word is used in everyday writing. There are 73 verbs starting with U on this page. The 73 most common come first, each with a short meaning, followed by shorter, longer and easier picks and a filter for any ending or length.

Many of the 73 U verbs carry a prefix you can peel off. Un- reverses an action in undo, unlock, uncover, unfold and unleash. Under- and up- add direction in undergo, undermine, undertake, update, upgrade, upload and uphold.

Use and understand are the most common entries and good starting points for children. Utilize also appears, though plain use usually reads better. Spelling bee learners can practise long words such as underestimate by clapping each syllable before writing it down.

Verbs starting with U: 73
Most used: use
Longest common one: underestimate 13 letters

Most common verbs that start with U

Ranked by how often the word appears in English text. "Type" is the word's main part of speech.

#	Word	Meaning	Type
1	use	put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose	verb
2	using	put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose	verb
3	understand	know and comprehend the nature or meaning of	verb
4	update	modernize or bring up to date	verb
5	upset	disturb the balance or stability of	verb
6	upgrade	rate higher; raise in value or esteem	verb
7	urge	force or impel in an indicated direction	verb
8	upload	transfer a file or program to a central computer from a smaller computer or a computer at a remote location	verb
9	unite	act in concert or unite in a common purpose or belief	verb
10	unlock	open the lock of	verb
11	utter	articulate; either verbally or with a cry, shout, or noise	verb
12	undergo	pass through	verb
13	utilize	put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose	verb
14	undertake	enter upon an activity or enterprise	verb
15	underestimate	assign too low a value to	verb
16	updating	modernize or bring up to date	verb
17	undermine	destroy property or hinder normal operations	verb
18	undo	cancel, annul, or reverse an action or its effect	verb
19	uphold	keep or maintain in unaltered condition; cause to remain or last	verb
20	usher	take (someone) to their seats, as in theaters or auditoriums	verb
21	uncover	make visible	verb
22	unfold	develop or come to a promising stage	verb
23	unleash	release or vent	verb
24	uniting	act in concert or unite in a common purpose or belief	verb
25	uplift	fill with high spirits; fill with optimism	verb
26	unload	leave or unload	verb
27	unveiling	remove the veil from	verb
28	unveil	remove the veil from	verb
29	unravel	become or cause to become undone by separating the fibers or threads of	verb
30	unwind	reverse the winding or twisting of	verb
31	unify	become one	verb
32	unpack	remove from its packing	verb
33	underline	give extra weight to (a communication)	verb
34	underscore	give extra weight to (a communication)	verb
35	utilise	put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose	verb
36	unplug	pull the plug of (electrical appliances) and render inoperable	verb
37	undress	get undressed	verb
38	urinate	no short meaning listed	verb
39	unblock	clear or remove an obstruction from	verb
40	usurp	seize and take control without authority and possibly with force; take as one's right or possession	verb
41	unearth	bring to light	verb
42	underlie	be or form the base for	verb
43	underpin	support from beneath	verb
44	uproot	move (people) forcibly from their homeland into a new and foreign environment	verb
45	unseat	remove from political office	verb
46	unwrap	remove the outer cover or wrapping of	verb
47	underwrite	guarantee financial support of	verb
48	unzip	open the zipper of	verb
49	untangle	release from entanglement of difficulty	verb
50	untie	undo the ties of	verb
51	unmask	reveal the true nature of	verb
52	unionize	recruit for a union or organize into a union	verb
53	unlearn	try to forget; put out of one's memory or knowledge	verb
54	unscrew	loosen something by unscrewing it	verb
55	unmasking	reveal the true nature of	verb
56	undervalue	assign too low a value to	verb
57	upstage	treat snobbishly, put in one's place	verb
58	unclog	become or cause to become unobstructed	verb
59	understate	represent as less significant or important	verb
60	underlay	raise or support (the level of printing) by inserting a piece of paper or cardboard under the type	verb
61	unsettle	disturb the composure of	verb
62	unroll	reverse the winding or twisting of	verb
63	upend	become turned or set on end	verb
64	unfurl	unroll, unfold, or spread out or be unrolled, unfolded, or spread out from a furled state	verb
65	unhook	take off a hook	verb
66	unfreeze	become or cause to become soft or liquid	verb
67	untangling	release from entanglement of difficulty	verb
68	unbutton	undo the buttons of	verb
69	underrate	make too low an estimate of	verb
70	unscramble	make intelligible	verb
71	untying	undo the ties of	verb
72	unseal	break the seal of	verb
73	unbox	remove from a box	verb

Positive verbs that start with U

uphold
uplift

Short verbs that start with U

use
using
upset
urge
unite
utter
undo
usher
unify
usurp
unzip
untie
upend
unbox

Long verbs that start with U

understand
underestimate
underscore
underwrite
undervalue
understate

Filter all 73 verbs that start with U

Narrow the full list by ending, letters inside and length. The list updates as you type.

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Questions people ask

How many verbs start with U?

This list has 73 verbs starting with U, taken from a standard word-game dictionary and limited to words that appear in real English text.

What are the most common verbs that start with U?

use, using, understand, update, upset, upgrade, urge, upload are the most used in everyday English.

What are some long verbs that start with U?

understand, undertake, underestimate, undermine, unveiling.

What are easy verbs that start with U for kids?

use, using, update, upset are short, everyday examples.

Source: the ENABLE word list (a public-domain dictionary used for word games), ranked by how often each word appears in English text (the open wordfreq project), with short meanings from Princeton WordNet. Offensive words are left out.

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