The best Wordle starting word, if you want a real everyday word, is IRATE, with RAISE and ARISE right behind it. After testing every common five-letter word against every Wordle answer from June 19, 2021 to September 29, 2026, those three left the fewest possible answers on average after the first guess. CRATE, TRACE, STARE and SLATE are nearly as good. ADIEU, the starter half the internet swears by, finished far behind.
We ran this test because we got tired of arguing about it. Everyone has a favorite opener and a story about the day it got four greens. Stories are fun, but they don't tell you what works over hundreds of games. Numbers do. So we took the 1,928 answers in our own archive and let every candidate word play all of them.
How we tested the starting words
Here's exactly what we did, so you can judge the results for yourself.
- The answers: All 1,928 Wordle answers from June 19, 2021 to September 29, 2026, taken from our past Wordle answers archive.
- The candidates: 3,449 common five-letter words, the everyday words from the word list behind our five letter word finder.
- The game: For each candidate, we played it as the first guess against every answer and recorded the colors Wordle would show.
- The score: For each result, we counted how many of the 1,928 answers would still be possible. Then we averaged that across all the games. Lower is better, because fewer possibilities means you're closer to the answer.
This measures one thing: how much your first guess narrows the field. It doesn't account for how you play after that, or how lucky you get. But over nearly 2,000 real puzzles, luck evens out, and what's left is how much information the word gives you.
The results: best everyday starting words
| Rank | Word | Answers left on average |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | IRATE | 51.0 |
| 2 | RAISE | 51.2 |
| 3 | ARISE | 53.1 |
| 4 | AROSE | 53.2 |
| 5 | SNARE | 56.9 |
| 6 | CRATE | 57.0 |
| 7 | ALTER | 57.3 |
| 8 | TRACE | 57.6 |
| 9 | STARE | 57.8 |
| 10 | ALERT | 57.9 |
| 11 | SLATE | 58.0 |
| 12 | LATER | 58.2 |
Honestly, the gap at the top surprised us. There isn't one magic word. IRATE and RAISE are almost tied, and the next ten words are within seven answers of each other. Pick any word in this table and you're starting strong. The difference between the first and the twelfth word is a small edge that shows up over months, not in any single game.
How the famous starters did
We also tested the words people argue about most:
| Word | Answers left on average | Different color patterns | Greens on average |
|---|---|---|---|
| SOARE | 49.6 | 120 | 0.68 |
| ROATE | 46.5 | 124 | 0.57 |
| RAISE | 51.2 | 124 | 0.55 |
| STARE | 57.8 | 134 | 0.59 |
| CRATE | 57.0 | 144 | 0.61 |
| SLATE | 58.0 | 142 | 0.64 |
| SALET | 60.1 | 140 | 0.56 |
| CRANE | 61.7 | 139 | 0.63 |
| ADIEU | 100.4 | 76 | 0.31 |
| HOUSE | 103.5 | 102 | 0.50 |
| AUDIO | 151.8 | 87 | 0.27 |
| OUIJA | 209.2 | 59 | 0.23 |
A few things jump out:
- ROATE and SOARE beat everything, but they're obscure. They're popular with Wordle number-crunchers, yet most people have never seen either one; SOARE is an old word for a young hawk. They aren't even in our everyday word list. Before relying on an unusual starter, try it in the game once to make sure it's accepted.
- CRANE is good, not magic. It became famous as a strong starter, and it is one. It just isn't the best on real answers, where it lands 22nd among everyday words.
- SLATE gives you the most greens. It averages 0.64 green letters per game, higher than RAISE. If you love seeing green early, SLATE feels great, even though RAISE narrows the list a little more.
- ADIEU and AUDIO are traps. They test four vowels, which feels smart, but they leave twice as many answers as RAISE. OUIJA is worse still.
Why vowel-heavy starters lose
It's tempting to think the vowels are the hard part, so you should find them first. The numbers say otherwise, and it makes sense once you look at how Wordle answers are built.
- Almost every answer has one or two vowels. Across the archive, 1,718 of the 1,928 answers have one or two of A, E, I, O and U. Knowing the vowels still leaves hundreds of words.
- Consonants split the list faster. R appears in 36% of answers, T in 30%, L in 28% and S in 26%. Testing those tells you much more than testing U (20%) or I in an odd position.
- Position matters. ADIEU puts U at the end, where almost no answers have it. RAISE puts E at the end, where it closes 384 answers, more than any other letter.
The best starters mix two or three common vowels with R, S, T or L, and put each letter where it often appears.
The best second word after your starter
A strong opener is half the story. The second guess matters just as much, and the best second word depends on your first. We ran the same test for pairs: play word one, then word two, and count what's left.
| If you start with | Best second word | Answers left after both |
|---|---|---|
| CRANE | TOILS | 3.8 |
| SLATE | MINOR or CRONY | 4.2 |
| IRATE | SCOLD | 4.4 |
| RAISE | CLOUT | 4.5 |
| ADIEU | SNORT | 6.2 |
After two good guesses, you're down to about four possible answers on average. That's why so many strong players solve on guess three or four: the first two words do most of the work.
One warning: these pairs assume you play the second word no matter what the first one showed. If your first guess gets three greens, forget the pair and start solving.
Should you use the same starting word every day?
We say yes, for most people. Here's why:
- Colors become familiar. With the same opener, you start recognizing patterns. After a few weeks, "gray, yellow, gray, gray, green" on your usual word means something to you instantly.
- Your pair becomes automatic. You can memorize your best second word and save your thinking for guess three.
- It's more relaxing. One less decision in the morning.
Some players rotate starters to keep things fresh, and that's fine too. The top dozen words are so close that rotating among them costs almost nothing.
Does the best starter change over time?
A little. Wordle's answers aren't random: they lean toward common words, rarely use plurals, and since February 2026 older answers have started to come back. As more answers are added, the averages shift slightly. To check, we split the archive in two: the first 900 answers and the 1,028 after them. IRATE and RAISE made the top five in both halves, and ARISE, AROSE, CRATE, TRACE and SLATE moved around just below them. That stability is why we trust the ranking. We'll rerun it as the archive grows.
What makes a starting word strong
Looking at the winners, the pattern is clear. Good starters share three traits.
- Common letters: E appears in 47% of answers, A in 40%, R in 36%, O in 30% and T in 30%. The top starters use four or five of these.
- Letters in their usual spots: S is the most common first letter (15% of answers), A the most common third letter, and E the most common last letter (20% of answers). RAISE and STARE put letters where they tend to live, so they collect more greens.
- Five different letters: A repeated letter tests one letter twice. That's why MAMMA, PUPPY and FUZZY are among the worst everyday starters we tested, leaving 640 to 750 possible answers on average.
You don't need to memorize any of this. It explains why the table looks the way it does, and it helps you judge any new starter someone recommends.
Two styles of opening
After watching our own results for a while, we noticed players fall into two camps, and both are fine.
- The narrower: Picks the word that leaves the fewest answers, like IRATE or RAISE. The first guess rarely looks exciting, but guess two and three get easier.
- The green-hunter: Picks a word that lands letters in place, like SLATE or SOARE-style words, and enjoys seeing green early. It feels great and is only slightly behind on the numbers.
If you play for streaks, be a narrower. If you play for the thrill of a green first row, go ahead and hunt.
Starting words we'd skip
Some starters are popular for reasons that have nothing to do with how well they work:
- ADIEU and AUDIO: Four vowels, but they skip R, S, T and L. They leave roughly twice as many answers as RAISE.
- HOUSE: A cozy word that tests H and U, two letters that rarely help early. It leaves about 104 answers on average.
- Words with double letters: You're testing four letters instead of five. Save doubles for later guesses, when you have a reason to think one is there.
- Last week's answer: Some players start with yesterday's word for fun. It's a nice ritual, but since answers rarely repeat within a short time, it's rarely the answer.
Quick answers to common questions
What is the single best Wordle starting word? Among everyday words, IRATE, by a hair over RAISE. Among all words, obscure ones like ROATE and SOARE score slightly better.
Is CRANE a good starter? Yes. It isn't the top word on real answers, but it's in the top 25 out of 3,449 common words we tested.
Should I change my starter if it hasn't worked this week? No. A week is too short to judge. Over hundreds of games, the numbers in this article hold up.
Does the best starter work in Hard Mode? Yes, but the second word changes, because Hard Mode forces you to reuse what you've found. Our Hard Mode article covers that in detail.
Our pick
If you want one word to use every day, use RAISE or IRATE. They're everyday words, they finish at the top on real answers, and they give you a mix of vowels and the most useful consonants. If you prefer the word with the most greens, SLATE is a lovely choice. And if you've been starting with ADIEU for two years, we're sorry. Try RAISE for a week and see how it feels.
Put it to use
Here's how we'd turn these numbers into a better game starting tomorrow. Choose RAISE or IRATE as your opener and write your matching second word on a sticky note: CLOUT after RAISE, SCOLD after IRATE. Play both unless the first guess gives you three or more yellow or green letters. Then stop exploring and start solving, using only words that could really be the answer. After a month, look back at your share grids and compare. For context, switching from ADIEU to RAISE removes about 49 possible answers after your very first guess, on average, across every real puzzle we tested.
- See today's colors for popular starters: Our Wordle Hint Today page includes an opening word report showing how RAISE, CRANE, SLATE and others do against today's answer.
- Narrow the list after your opener: Enter your colors in the Wordle Solver to see every word that still fits.
- Search by pattern: Use the five letter word finder when you know some letters and positions.
- Understand today's word: The Online Dictionary explains any answer you haven't seen before.