3 Letter Wordle: guess the three-letter word
The rules you know, with three letters instead of five. Shorter words leave fewer clues per guess, so every letter counts.
How 3-letter mode works
- Guess the hidden 3-letter word in six tries.
- Green means the right letter in the right spot, yellow means the letter is in the word somewhere else, and grey means it is not in the word.
- Every guess must be a real word. We accept 796 3-letter words, in US and UK spellings.
- Rounds are unlimited: when you finish, the next word is one tap away.
The answer is one of 255 common 3-letter words, so you will not be asked to find an obscure word you have never seen. Hints, hard mode, XP and badges all work like in the five-letter game.
Best opening words for 3 letters
We tested every possible answer with 3 different letters as an opener against all 255 answers. eat finds the most letters: on average 0.79 green or yellow tiles on the first guess.
| Rank | Word | Avg. tiles found | Avg. greens |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | eat | 0.79 | 0.44 |
| 2 | tea | 0.79 | 0.20 |
| 3 | ate | 0.79 | 0.18 |
| 4 | rat | 0.73 | 0.45 |
| 5 | art | 0.73 | 0.30 |
| 6 | toe | 0.71 | 0.33 |
| 7 | pat | 0.70 | 0.47 |
| 8 | tap | 0.70 | 0.35 |
Most common letters in 3-letter answers
Share of answers that contain each letter at least once:
- a 32%
- t 25%
- o 23%
- e 22%
- i 19%
- n 16%
- r 15%
- u 13%
How it compares to the five-letter game
With 3 letters each guess tests fewer letters, and many short words differ by a single letter. Expect more rounds where you know four of the letters and still have several answers left, so use a guess that rules out several options at once. If you like the classic Wordle format but want a change of pace, switching length is the easiest way to make it feel new again.