The best Wordle starting words, tested on every answer

We tested every opening word against every possible answer in Vowelkit's list and counted how many letters it finds. Here are the openers that do best, and why.

Updated October 6, 2026. Based on 869 answers and 616 candidate openers.

The short answer

The best single opener in our test is irate. Against every possible answer it finds 1.94 green or yellow tiles on average, and 0.60 greens. If you want a fixed two-word start, alien then short tests ten different common letters and finds 3.21 tiles on average.

The scores come from Vowelkit's own answer list of common words, the same kind of list most Wordle style games use. Rankings in other games can differ slightly because their answer lists differ.

Top 25 starting words

Ranked by the average number of letters found (green plus yellow) on the first guess.

Top 25 starting words by letters found
Rank	Word	Avg. letters found	Avg. greens
1	irate	1.94	0.60
2	stare	1.93	0.66
3	alert	1.90	0.44
4	alter	1.90	0.44
5	later	1.90	0.43
6	arose	1.89	0.64
7	arise	1.89	0.65
8	raise	1.89	0.59
9	laser	1.86	0.41
10	heart	1.85	0.48
11	earth	1.85	0.35
12	trace	1.84	0.67
13	react	1.84	0.51
14	cater	1.84	0.48
15	store	1.82	0.62
16	learn	1.81	0.43
17	trade	1.81	0.61
18	tread	1.81	0.44
19	share	1.80	0.70
20	scare	1.80	0.63
21	liter	1.78	0.41
22	stale	1.78	0.66
23	least	1.78	0.51
24	steal	1.78	0.44
25	great	1.77	0.47

Best openers for greens

Some players prefer an opener that places letters, not just finds them. These words have the most letters in their most likely positions, so they produce the most green tiles on average.

share: 0.70 greens, 1.80 letters found
shine: 0.69 greens, 1.51 letters found
shone: 0.68 greens, 1.51 letters found
slice: 0.68 greens, 1.52 letters found
trace: 0.67 greens, 1.84 letters found
stare: 0.66 greens, 1.93 letters found
stale: 0.66 greens, 1.78 letters found
arise: 0.65 greens, 1.89 letters found
shame: 0.65 greens, 1.50 letters found
space: 0.65 greens, 1.51 letters found

Best two-word openings

Two words with no letter in common test ten letters before you start solving. These pairs find the most letters together.

alien + short: 3.21 letters found
alone + shirt: 3.21 letters found
trail + shone: 3.21 letters found
trial + shone: 3.21 letters found
train + close: 3.20 letters found
solar + unite: 3.19 letters found
older + saint: 3.17 letters found
stole + drain: 3.17 letters found
solar + ethic: 3.16 letters found
stole + chair: 3.16 letters found

Why these words work: letter odds

Share of answers that contain each letter at least once:

e 50%
r 41%
a 41%
t 33%
o 29%
i 29%
s 28%
l 26%
n 24%
h 20%

The most common first letters are s (16%), c (9%), a (7%), t (7%), f (6%). The most common last letters are e (22%), t (12%), r (11%), y (10%), h (7%). Strong openers use several of the top letters and put them where they usually appear.

For contrast, a fun but weak opener like crazy finds only 1.15 letters on average.

Best openers for other word lengths

4 letters: tale, late, real
6 letters: retain, orient, linear
7 letters: tearing, nastier, certain

How we tested

Candidates: every answer with five different letters (616 words).
For each candidate, we counted how many of its letters appear in each of the 869 answers (letters found) and how many sit in the same position (greens), then averaged.
Pairs: every combination of the top 200 openers that share no letters.

This measures information from the first guess only. It does not simulate full games, so treat it as a strong starting point, then practise in Unlimited to see what works for you.