4 Letter Wordle: guess the four-letter word
The rules you know, with four letters instead of five. Shorter words leave fewer clues per guess, so every letter counts.
How 4-letter mode works
- Guess the hidden 4-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 3,204 4-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 783 common 4-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 4 letters
We tested every possible answer with 4 different letters as an opener against all 783 answers. tale finds the most letters: on average 1.26 green or yellow tiles on the first guess.
| Rank | Word | Avg. tiles found | Avg. greens |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | tale | 1.26 | 0.62 |
| 2 | late | 1.26 | 0.54 |
| 3 | real | 1.24 | 0.38 |
| 4 | rate | 1.23 | 0.53 |
| 5 | tear | 1.23 | 0.36 |
| 6 | lane | 1.23 | 0.61 |
| 7 | lean | 1.23 | 0.39 |
| 8 | neat | 1.22 | 0.41 |
Most common letters in 4-letter answers
Share of answers that contain each letter at least once:
- e 42%
- a 34%
- o 27%
- l 25%
- t 25%
- i 23%
- r 23%
- n 22%
How it compares to the five-letter game
With 4 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.