Best Wordle Starting Words
Every Wordle game starts the same way: an empty grid and a cursor blinking in the first box. The best Wordle starting words are the openers that rule out the most possible answers with your very first guess, so guess two starts from a much smaller list.
We tested 402 openers against all 1,943 past answers to rank them. Below, you'll see the top 10, how popular openers compare, the best second word for each and a simple way to pick your own Wordle starting word.
What is the best Wordle starting word?
ROATE comes out on top. After it, only about 46.9 of 1,943 past answers would still be possible on average. If you'd rather open with a word that can also be the answer, IRATE is close behind.
We ranked each opener by the number of answers it leaves on average, which is the number that decides how easy your second guess is. Greens and yellows are shown too, but a word that leaves fewer answers wins even with slightly fewer colored tiles.
| Rank | Word | Answers left (avg) | Greens (avg) | Yellows (avg) | Past answer? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | roate | 46.9 | 0.57 | 1.26 | No |
| 2 | tiare | 49.4 | 0.56 | 1.25 | No |
| 3 | soare | 50.1 | 0.68 | 1.10 | No |
| 4 | raile | 50.2 | 0.54 | 1.25 | No |
| 5 | orate | 50.5 | 0.53 | 1.29 | No |
| 6 | irate | 51.5 | 0.53 | 1.27 | Yes |
| 7 | raise | 51.6 | 0.55 | 1.22 | Yes |
| 8 | arise | 53.6 | 0.56 | 1.20 | Yes |
| 9 | arose | 53.8 | 0.56 | 1.22 | No |
| 10 | ariel | 54.2 | 0.49 | 1.30 | No |
How do popular starting words compare?
Popular openers like CRANE, SLATE and TRACE hold up well, leaving roughly 52 to 63 answers on average. The big exception is vowel-heavy words: AUDIO leaves about 152.6, because it spends its letters on vowels instead of common consonants.
| Word | Answers left (avg) | Greens (avg) | Yellows (avg) |
|---|---|---|---|
| irate | 51.5 | 0.53 | 1.27 |
| raise | 51.6 | 0.55 | 1.22 |
| crate | 57.6 | 0.60 | 1.12 |
| trace | 58.2 | 0.59 | 1.13 |
| stare | 58.5 | 0.59 | 1.19 |
| slate | 58.8 | 0.64 | 1.06 |
| crane | 62.5 | 0.62 | 1.04 |
| adieu | 101.3 | 0.31 | 1.19 |
| audio | 152.6 | 0.27 | 1.06 |
Pro Tip
Skip the all-vowel openers. 90% of past answers have two vowels or fewer, and you'll find those vowels anyway. Letters like R, S, T and L do far more to narrow the list on guess one.
What is the best second word after your opener?
A good second word uses five letters your opener didn't touch. Together, the two guesses cover ten different letters, and the best pairs below leave 5 or fewer possible answers on average, which turns guess three into a real shot at the win.
| Opener | Best second word | Answers left after both (avg) |
|---|---|---|
| roate | linds | 4.36 |
| raise | clout | 4.57 |
| slate | orcin | 3.96 |
| crane | toils | 3.88 |
Which letters should a starting word use?
Use the letters that turn up in the most answers. E, A and R lead the pack, and a strong opener packs in three or four of the top eight letters below, each shown with the share of past answers that contain it.
- E: in 47% of answers
- A: in 40% of answers
- R: in 36% of answers
- O: in 30% of answers
- T: in 30% of answers
- L: in 28% of answers
- I: in 28% of answers
- S: in 26% of answers
How do you pick your own starting word?
If none of our picks feels right, build your own in four quick steps. Any five-letter word that follows these rules will make a solid opener, even if it never shows up in our top 10, so pick one you'll actually remember.
- Use five different letters, so no tile is wasted on a repeat.
- Include two vowels, usually A and E or O and E.
- Fill the rest with common consonants like R, S, T, L or N.
- Check it in our solver to see how far it narrows the list.
You can test your opener against any game, and our full strategy guide covers what to do from guess three onward. New to Wordle? Start with the rules, then come back for an opener. And when you're ready to play, today's hints are waiting.
How did we rank these words?
We played each candidate opener against every past Wordle answer using the game's exact scoring, double letters included. Then we counted the average greens and yellows and the number of answers sharing each color pattern, because fewer shared patterns means fewer words left.
Wordle starting words FAQs
What is the best Wordle starting word?
By our numbers, ROATE. Played against all 1,943 past answers, it leaves about 46.9 possible answers on average after one guess, fewer than any other word we tested.
Is ADIEU a good Wordle starting word?
Not really. It tests four vowels, but vowels alone don't narrow much. Against past answers, ADIEU leaves about 101.3 possible words on average, far more than openers built around R, S, T and E.
Should I use the same Wordle starting word every day?
We think so. A fixed opener lets you learn what each color pattern means, and you can plan your second guess in advance. Switching openers only helps if you enjoy the variety.
Can a Wordle starting word be the answer?
Yes, and strong openers have been answers too. IRATE is one of them. Repeats have been possible since early 2026, but they're rare, so treat a first-guess win as a lucky bonus, not the goal.
Does the best opener change over time?
Slightly. We recalculate these rankings every time the site rebuilds, using every past answer. Each new puzzle nudges the numbers a little, so check back now and then.
What is a good second word after my opener?
One that uses five new letters, so you test as much of the alphabet as possible in two guesses. The pairs table on this page shows the best partners for several popular openers.
Got your opener?
Then put your new opener to work on today's puzzle. Play it first, read the colors, and keep our spoiler-free hints on hand in case your second guess stalls. The solver is there too if the last row gets tight.