Best words to start wordle – Tips and Tricks 2022

Last updated on December 17th, 2022 at 02:01 pm

When it comes to beating the game and not having to look for today’s Wordle answer, the Best words to start wordle are essential.

You run the risk of losing your streak if you don’t have a good start word, and no one wants that to happen to them. A great start word will also help you turn 4.6s into 3.6s and even 2.6s, even if you’re a seasoned Wordle veteran by this point. Even the brilliant new WordleBot tool from the New York Times recognizes the importance of a strong first word.

For those who are unfamiliar with my story of how I’ve played every Wordle game so far and have only lost once, tip No. 1 on my list of recommendations is to choose a good starting word. So that’s what I’m going to talk about today.

Read on and I’ll explain what the best Wordle start words are, the math behind them and what alternatives to try.

Check out: The best way to cheat at Wordle | Tips & Tricks

Best words to start wordle: Most common letters 

Before we get into the list of words, let’s take a look at the science that went into creating it.

It is not necessary to be a genius to recognize that it is a good idea to use letters that appear more frequently in the English language. Consider the following example: you’re more likely to come across a “A” in the word than a “Z.”

In a research paper titled English Letter Frequency Counts, Peter Norvig, director of research at Google, analyzed data from Google Books to compile a list of the most frequently used letters in the English language, which he published in 2012. His findings revealed that the letters “E,” “T,” and “A” were the most frequently used, while the letters “J,” “Q,” and “Z” were the least frequently used.

That list, on the other hand, is based on words in general, rather than Wordle answers — so in order to truly determine which letters appear the most frequently in the game, you’d have to go through each and every one of them.

Fortunately, doing so is straightforward. Wordle’s answers are all freely available in the website’s HTML code, so downloading them and performing some basic number crunching isn’t difficult at all. When you do that, you will receive the following list of the most frequently used letters:

1. E
2. A
3. R
4. O
5. T
6. L
7. I
8. S
9. N
10. C

It’s important to note that the list above is based on correct Wordle answers rather than correct Wordle words; the game accepts more than 12,000 words as guesses, but only 2,309 of them are correct solutions.

That’s interesting, but it’s only an appetizer for the best Wordle start word main course that will be served afterward

What are the best words to start wordle?

Several people have attempted to use mathematics to determine the best Wordle start words, but their efforts have failed.

A member of the team was programmer and game designer Tyler Glaiel, who assigned a score to each letter in Wordle’s 12,972 possible guesses based on whether it was included in one of the 2,309 answers or not, as well as whether it was in the correct place.

Best 3 starting words for wordle

Following a thorough examination of all 12,972 words, the algorithm determined that the following are the best words to start with on wordle:

1. SOARE
2. ROATE
3. RAISE

The conclusion reached by Glaiel is that ROATE is the best Wordle start word if you want to eliminate as many possible answers as quickly as possible. The reasons for this conclusion are too complex to discuss in detail here.

However, because ROATE does not appear in Wordle’s list of possible answers, you will never be able to achieve a score of 1/6 with this word. As a result, Glaiel recommends that you begin with RAISE.

It’s no surprise that the list produced by programmer Bertrand Fan is nearly identical to the one produced by me:

1. SOARE
2. SAREE
3. SEARE
4. STARE
5. ROATE

Given that the top three do not appear in Wordle’s list of possible answers, STARE would appear to be the statistically best Wordle start word, at least according to Fan’s analysis.

STARE is the word that was independently chosen by Fan’s several weeks ago, prior to seeing the research, and so that’s what we’d go with in this case as well.

As an alternative, that decision was based on common sense; after all, among Wordle answers, S is by far the most common first letter, followed by A for the most common third letter, and then E for the most common fifth letter. T and R, on the other hand, are the two consonants that appear the most frequently throughout the game.

To summarize, the best words to start wordle is STARE.

Should your Wordle’s first word contain a large number of vowels?

A number of people swear by the games ADIEU, AUDIO, ABOUT, CANOE, and OUIJA, because they allow you to use up three or four vowels at the beginning of the game.

The fact that every Wordle answer contains at least one vowel makes it logical to identify it as soon as possible as a viable alternative approach to the problem. However, that is not a route I would personally take. Because ADIEU is not a Wordle answer, you will never be able to get a 1/6 with it. The audio is good, but it is missing an E, which is not only the most common vowel in the game, but it is also the most common letter in the game as well. The same can be said for ABOUT.

When it comes to consonants, CANOE isn’t bad, but the consonants C and N are nowhere near as common as the consonants S, T, and R, so what you gain in one area you lose in another. And OUIJA is a ridiculous suggestion because it does not contain an E, but it does contain a J, which is the second least likely letter to appear in the game.

When thinking of a second word, keep in mind that vowels are very important in the game as a whole, so give them careful consideration. To return to the subject at hand…

The Best words to start wordle Words list 2022:

You can find the table of the optimal opening words according to this method below:

Rank	Word	Turns to win	Word	Turns to win	Word	Turns to win	Word	Turns to win
1.	REAST	3.604	TRACE	3.625	TRAPE	3.805	TRACE	3.840
2.	TRACE	3.608	CRANE	3.635	PRATE	3.808	SLATE	3.841
3.	CRANE	3.610	ROAST	3.638	SALET	3.811	LEAST	3.846
4.	CARLE	3.611	SLATE	3.640	LEANT	3.812	LEANT	3.850
5.	TORSE	3.613	TRICE	3.641	REAST	3.814	TRAIN	3.851
6.	RANCE	3.614	CRATE	3.642	TRACE	3.815	PRATE	3.852
7.	SALET	3.614	SLANT	3.648	CRANE	3.816	SLANT	3.852
8.	SLATE	3.616	STARE	3.648	LEAST	3.818	CRATE	3.854
9.	SNARE	3.617	LEAST	3.651	SLATE	3.827	CRANE	3.855
10.	CRATE	3.620	PRATE	3.653	CRATE	3.829	TALES	3.857
11.	LEAST	3.620	REACT	3.654	CARET	3.829	TRIPE	3.862
12.	TRONE	3.620	CORSE	3.655	CARLE	3.829	SPATE	3.863
13.	CARET	3.621	CADRE	3.655	TRICE	3.829	PLATE	3.864
14.	ROAST	3.621	TRADE	3.656	PRASE	3.830	TRICE	3.864
15.	CARTE	3.621	TRAIN	3.657	SLANE	3.832	DEALT	3.866
16.	ROSET	3.621	DEALT	3.657	PEART	3.832	TRIES	3.866
17.	PRASE	3.622	SNARE	3.657	ARTEL	3.833	TRAIL	3.867
18.	TRINE	3.622	LANCE	3.657	RESAT	3.834	STALE	3.868
19.	TOILE	3.623	CARET	3.658	TRADE	3.835	CRAPE	3.870
20.	TRICE	3.623	STALE	3.660	PARSE	3.835	TRADE	3.870
21.	SLART	3.625	SLICE	3.660	REIST	3.836	LANCE	3.870
22.	PARSE	3.625	STORE	3.660	CARTE	3.838	CLEAT	3.871
23.	TRADE	3.626	SCALE	3.661	REACT	3.838	CARET	3.873
24.	SOREL	3.627	TRIPE	3.662	CARSE	3.838	TRIAL	3.873
25.	STARE	3.627	STILE	3.664	SETAL	3.839	CREST	3.875
26.	RAINE	3.628	TRAIL	3.664	TORSE	3.839	SCALE	3.875
27.	SLANE	3.628	LEANT	3.664	TRINE	3.840	PLANE	3.876
28.	REACT	3.631	TEARS	3.666	SLART	3.841	REACT	3.877
29.	CARSE	3.633	SAINT	3.667	TEALS	3.841	LEARN	3.883
30.	PEART	3.634	SPATE	3.668	TRIES	3.841	NACRE	3.884
31.	REIST	3.634	RAISE	3.669	EARNT	3.844	PEARL	3.884
32.	TRAPE	3.634	PARSE	3.670	STALE	3.844	CADRE	3.885
33.	HEART	3.635	CATER	3.670	TALES	3.844	STORE	3.885
34.	ARTEL	3.635	CRAPE	3.670	TERAS	3.844	CASTE	3.886
35.	EARST	3.635	PLATE	3.671	ALERT	3.845	TREAD	3.886
36.	RONTE	3.635	PLANE	3.671	RANCE	3.847	ROAST	3.887
37.	STALE	3.635	SNORE	3.671	CATER	3.848	ALERT	3.888
38.	PRATE	3.636	AROSE	3.672	STANE	3.849	HEART	3.888
39.	RAILE	3.636	NITRE	3.672	ALTER	3.849	STARE	3.888
40.	TASER	3.636	SIREN	3.673	TEARS	3.850	CORSE	3.889
41.	SOARE	3.637	TARGE	3.673	ROATE	3.850	PARSE	3.889
42.	STANE	3.637	ALTER	3.674	SANER	3.851	TAPER	3.891
43.	TEARS	3.637	CREST	3.674	LEARN	3.852	SNARE	3.891
44.	ANTRE	3.638	TRIED	3.674	TRONE	3.852	TRIED	3.891
45.	LEANT	3.638	CLEAT	3.675	ROAST	3.853	TEARS	3.892
46.	ROATE	3.638	TRIAL	3.676	STARE	3.853	NEARS	3.892
47.	TARES	3.640	SCARE	3.677	HEART	3.854	LITRE	3.892
48.	AROSE	3.641	TREAD	3.678	ORATE	3.854	STEAL	3.892
49.	EARNT	3.641	SHALE	3.678	TASER	3.854	CATER	3.893
50.	RAISE	3.641	ARISE	3.679	LATER	3.854	STILE	3.894
51.	PARLE	3.642	GRATE	3.679	EARST	3.854	TENOR	3.895
52.	RESAT	3.642	NACRE	3.679	TARES	3.855	RINSE	3.896
53.	SLIER	3.643	TRIES	3.679	ROSET	3.855	SAINT	3.896
54.	STORE	3.643	CLEAR	3.680	SNARE	3.856	SLICE	3.896
55.	STIRE	3.645	PEARL	3.680	STORE	3.857	SORTA	3.897
56.	PAIRE	3.648	ALONE	3.682	TOILE	3.857	ALTER	3.897
57.	CATER	3.648	STAIR	3.682	SCARE	3.857	STAIR	3.897
58.	ORATE	3.649	ALIEN	3.682	PARLE	3.858	SIREN	3.898
59.	SANER	3.649	HEART	3.682	ANTRE	3.859	RATES	3.899
60.	SETAL	3.649	LATER	3.682	SERAL	3.859	SCARE	3.899
61.	ARIEL	3.650	SPARE	3.682	STRAE	3.859	SHALE	3.899
62.	ALERT	3.650	CASTE	3.683	RATEL	3.860	SNORE	3.900
63.	SERAL	3.651	ALERT	3.683	ALINE	3.860	SPARE	3.901
64.	ALTER	3.651	TALES	3.684	ARETS	3.862	LATER	3.901
65.	SCARE	3.651	AISLE	3.685	LITRE	3.862	NITRE	3.901
66.	LIANE	3.652	CARES	3.685	SOREL	3.863	GRATE	3.902
67.	RATEL	3.652	RINSE	3.686	TALER	3.865	IRATE	3.902
68.	COATE	3.653	RATES	3.686	ALIEN	3.867	CLEAR	3.903
69.	STRAE	3.653	LEARN	3.687	RONTE	3.868	PATER	3.904
70.	TALER	3.654	IRATE	3.689	RATES	3.869	ALIEN	3.906
71.	AISLE	3.655	SAUTE	3.690	ARIEL	3.870	SATED	3.910
72.	ALINE	3.656	TENOR	3.690	REALS	3.870	TARGE	3.911
73.	ALONE	3.656	TAPER	3.690	LIANE	3.872	ASTER	3.912
74.	SAINE	3.656	SOLAR	3.691	STEAR	3.872	CANOE	3.912
75.	ARISE	3.657	GLARE	3.692	PAIRE	3.873	NARES	3.913
76.	LATER	3.657	SORTA	3.693	STIRE	3.874	RENAL	3.913
77.	IRATE	3.657	PATER	3.694	RAINE	3.875	BLARE	3.914
78.	TRIES	3.658	STEAL	3.695	IRATE	3.876	LITER	3.914
79.	ALIEN	3.659	LITRE	3.695	SAUTE	3.878	CARES	3.916
80.	TEALS	3.660	SATED	3.696	ALONE	3.880	ALONE	3.921
81.	TERAS	3.660	CANOE	3.697	RAILE	3.880	THANE	3.923
82.	SAICE	3.661	SUITE	3.698	SHARE	3.883	SAUTE	3.923
83.	SAUTE	3.662	THANE	3.698	LARES	3.884	LASER	3.924
84.	RATES	3.662	BLARE	3.698	RALES	3.885	SOLAR	3.925
85.	SHARE	3.663	NARES	3.700	URATE	3.885	HATER	3.926
86.	TOISE	3.663	SABRE	3.701	SLIER	3.887	ARISE	3.927
87.	LITRE	3.663	SHARE	3.702	COATE	3.888	AISLE	3.927
88.	ARETS	3.666	LASER	3.702	SOARE	3.888	RAISE	3.928
89.	TALES	3.666	HATER	3.703	RAISE	3.889	GLARE	3.928
90.	LEARN	3.667	ASTER	3.704	LASER	3.889	ANISE	3.930
91.	URATE	3.672	LOSER	3.705	TOISE	3.892	LOSER	3.932
92.	ARLES	3.674	ANISE	3.708	SAINE	3.894	ATONE	3.934
93.	REALO	3.674	ATONE	3.710	ARLES	3.895	SABRE	3.937
94.	STEAR	3.674	RENAL	3.714	AROSE	3.896	SHARE	3.940
95.	REALS	3.675	ORIEL	3.716	OATER	3.898	SUITE	3.943
96.	LARES	3.678	SHEAR	3.717	AISLE	3.899	ORIEL	3.951
97.	RALES	3.679	NEARS	3.721	AESIR	3.902	AROSE	3.961
98.	LASER	3.683	ROUTE	3.724	ARISE	3.902	SHEAR	3.965
99.	OATER	3.684	LITER	3.725	SAICE	3.908	ROUTE	3.974
100.	AESIR	3.686	ROUSE	3.726	REALO	3.909	ROUSE	3.978

Wordle Unlimited

Guess the hidden word in 6 tries. Each guess must be a valid 5 letter word, you cannot enter random letters. Hit the enter button to submit the guess. After your submission, the color of the tiles will change as in the examples below.

Another wordle game Word Hurdle

The game formerly known as Wordle 2 has been renamed Word Hurdle. Players must guess the six-letter word in six or fewer guesses in this game. The rules are similar to those of Wordle in that players are not provided with any initial clues as to the meaning of the word and all guesses must be in American English.