[By character count] Words that start with “bu.” Hints for shiritori and word games.
In addition to shiritori, many people enjoy word games like crosswords and word searches with a specified number of letters because they’re easy to play and highly engaging.
That said, there are times when you just can’t think of a word that starts with a certain sound, right?
So, in this article, we’ll introduce lots of words that start with “bu” (ぶ).
We’ll present them by character count, so it should be helpful when there are rules that specify the number of characters.
Use this as a handy reference for hints in shiritori and other word games.
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4 letters (1–10)
bouillon
Some of you might not actually be very familiar with it.
Let me introduce bouillon.
In simple terms, bouillon is a broth made from meat and vegetables.
block
The word “block” carries various nuances.
Whether it makes you think of a toy like building blocks, or of something guarding or blocking something else, is up to you.
5 characters (1–10)
boomerang
This is a boomerang, an item that was originally used for hunting.
In shiritori, it would make you lose, so be careful.
blunt; unsociable; unfriendly; curt (lit. “buaiso” = unsociable/discourteous manner)
A word that might be useful in shiritori is buaíso (unfriendly).
In fact, 不愛想 can also correctly be read as “buaiso.” Choose the reading your opponent seems less comfortable with.
Bucharest
Among words starting with the less familiar ‘bu’ sound, there is ‘Bucharest.’ Bucharest is the capital of Romania.
6 characters (1–10)
glucose (grape sugar)
When you want to increase the character count, glucose is also recommended.
If that’s already been used, similar words like “grape juice” can work too.
Bookmark
Originally, as its name suggests, it means a “bookmark you place in a book” in English.
However, nowadays it’s commonly known as the term that refers to favorites in computer and smartphone browsers.


