Fill in the StringBlank

Question

I have a string that has blanks marked by a marker; (in this case, an underscore):

"f_ath_r".

I can execute the following command to get the word.

DictionaryLookup["f" ~~ _ ~~ "ath" ~~ _ ~~ "r"]

{"feather"}

How do I create and provide this pattern to the DictionaryLookup function starting from the given string?

Thanks.

Edit: Example of a typical use case

Starting with a phrase or sentence, for instance: "Actions speak louder than words"; and adding blanks to it randomly.

a_t_o_s _pe_k l_ude_ t_a_ w__ds

which upon Dictionary look up becomes:

Answer 1

pattern = StringReplace["f_ath_r", "_" -> Blank[]]

"f" ~~ _ ~~ "ath" ~~ _ ~~ "r"

DictionaryLookup @ pattern

{"feather"}

Generalizing to allow __ and ___ in the input string:

toSPattern = StringReplace[p : Repeated["_", {1, 3}] :> ToExpression[p]];
DictionaryLookup[toSPattern@"f_ath_r"]

{"feather"}

DictionaryLookup[toSPattern@"f___ath__r"]

{"father", "feather", "featherier", "forefather", "forgather"}