Best Wordle starting words
We scored 5,665 five-letter words with five different letters against all 8,636 five-letter words in our dictionary. AROSE came out on top.
How the ranking works
A good first guess tests letters that appear in as many possible answers as possible. For each candidate word, we added up how many five-letter words contain each of its letters. Words with repeated letters were left out, because a repeated letter tests nothing new.
The score next to each word is relative to the top word, which scores 100. Our dictionary is larger than the official Wordle answer list, so rankings include some less familiar words. Pick a common word from the list if you prefer answers that feel natural.
Top starting words by letter coverage
- arosescore 100 · 3 vowels
- arisescore 99 · 3 vowels
- raisescore 99 · 3 vowels
- seraiscore 99 · 3 vowels
- arlesscore 98 · 2 vowels
- earlsscore 98 · 2 vowels
- laresscore 98 · 2 vowels
- laserscore 98 · 2 vowels
- learsscore 98 · 2 vowels
- ralesscore 98 · 2 vowels
- realsscore 98 · 2 vowels
- seralscore 98 · 2 vowels
- asterscore 97 · 2 vowels
- ratesscore 97 · 2 vowels
- starescore 97 · 2 vowels
- taresscore 97 · 2 vowels
- tearsscore 97 · 2 vowels
- aloesscore 97 · 3 vowels
- stoaescore 96 · 3 vowels
- aislescore 96 · 3 vowels
- earnsscore 96 · 2 vowels
- naresscore 96 · 2 vowels
- nearsscore 96 · 2 vowels
- sanerscore 96 · 2 vowels
Top starting words for green letters
These words put each letter in the position where it most often appears, which raises the chance of an early green tile.
- cares
- bares
- pares
- tares
- cores
- canes
- dares
- bores
- mares
- fares
- banes
- pores
- panes
- tores
- lares
- bales
- cones
- pales
- tales
- hares
- cates
- coles
- mores
- wares
What to do after your first guess
Use a second word that tests five new letters if your first guess turned up mostly grey tiles. Once you have a few greens and yellows, enter them in the Wordle solver to see every remaining answer.
Want to practise? Try today's Words Corner Daily puzzle, or see the most common letters in 5 letter words.