Best Wordle Starting Words

The short answer

We scored every candidate opener against all 2,315 Wordle answers. There is no single winner: it depends on what you want from the first guess.

Goal	Best word	Bits	Avg left	Worst case
Most information	SOARE	5.89	62	183
Fewest answers left	ROATE	5.88	60	195
Safest worst case	RAISE	5.88	61	168

SOARE and ROATE are valid guesses but can never be the answer. RAISE can, so it is the best opener if you also want a small chance of winning on guess one.

Popular openers compared

How the starting words people actually use stack up, with the best fixed second word for each. "2-word bits" is the information both guesses give together; around 9.4 bits leaves only 3 or 4 answers.

Opener	Rank	Bits	Avg left	Best 2nd word	2-word bits
RAISE	#3	5.88	61	CLOTH	9.40
SLATE	#5	5.86	72	MINOR	9.42
SALET	#7	5.83	71	RHINO	9.40
CRANE	#16	5.74	79	SPILT	9.52
CRATE	#6	5.83	73	SOLID	9.46
TRACE	#9	5.83	74	SOLID	9.47
STARE	#11	5.81	71	CLING	9.30
SOARE	#1	5.89	62	GLINT	9.45
ROATE	#2	5.88	60	SLING	9.40
ADIEU	#682	4.88	124	SNORT	9.06
AUDIO	#1179	4.59	184	CREST	8.99

The strongest pair we found among these openers is CRANE + SPILT at 9.52 bits. A strong first word matters less than you might think: what you do on guess two counts for more.

Why ADIEU and AUDIO fall short

Vowel-heavy openers feel efficient, but about 7 in 10 answers contain A or E, so learning that tells you little. Common consonants such as R, S, T and L split the list far better. ADIEU ranks #682 and AUDIO #1179, leaving about 124 and 184 answers on average, against 61 for RAISE.

Top 50 Wordle starting words

#	Word	Bits	Avg left	Worst case	Can be answer
1	SOARE	5.89	62	183	No
2	ROATE	5.88	60	195	No
3	RAISE	5.88	61	168	Yes
4	REAST	5.87	72	227	No
5	SLATE	5.86	72	221	Yes
6	CRATE	5.83	73	246	Yes
7	SALET	5.83	71	221	No
8	IRATE	5.83	64	194	Yes
9	TRACE	5.83	74	246	Yes
10	ARISE	5.82	64	168	Yes
11	STARE	5.81	71	227	Yes
12	SNARE	5.77	71	219	Yes
13	AROSE	5.77	66	183	Yes
14	LEAST	5.75	78	221	Yes
15	ALERT	5.75	72	196	Yes
16	CRANE	5.74	79	263	Yes
17	TARES	5.74	72	227	No
18	STALE	5.74	76	221	Yes
19	SANER	5.73	70	219	Yes
20	ALTER	5.71	70	196	Yes
21	LATER	5.71	70	196	Yes
22	REACT	5.70	80	246	Yes
23	LEANT	5.68	77	208	Yes
24	TRADE	5.68	81	269	Yes
25	LEARN	5.66	77	212	Yes
26	CATER	5.65	81	246	Yes
27	ROAST	5.65	83	266	Yes
28	AISLE	5.64	76	196	Yes
29	TRICE	5.63	86	277	Yes
30	SCARE	5.63	81	237	Yes
31	PARSE	5.63	87	270	Yes
32	LARES	5.63	72	205	No
33	SAUTE	5.62	84	223	Yes
34	HEART	5.61	89	261	Yes
35	ALONE	5.61	77	182	Yes
36	STORE	5.61	81	246	Yes
37	ALIEN	5.61	84	220	Yes
38	SHARE	5.61	86	238	Yes
39	GRATE	5.60	85	276	Yes
40	TRAIL	5.59	79	219	Yes
41	SIREN	5.58	84	244	Yes
42	SNORE	5.58	83	237	Yes
43	CASTE	5.57	85	248	Yes
44	SCALE	5.57	87	255	Yes
45	ATONE	5.56	79	191	Yes
46	RENAL	5.56	81	212	Yes
47	DEALT	5.55	91	257	Yes
48	SPARE	5.55	92	270	Yes
49	TRAIN	5.55	89	264	Yes
50	PLATE	5.55	89	255	Yes

How we calculated this

Each guess colors the answer in one of 243 green, yellow and gray patterns. For every opener we counted how the 2,315 answers in the original Wordle list split across those patterns. Bits is the entropy of that split, avg left is the expected number of answers remaining, and worst case is the largest group. Candidates are every answer-list word plus well-known non-answer openers such as SOARE, ROATE and SALET. The New York Times has edited the answer list over time, so treat small differences as ties.

Want to use this live? The Wordle solver ranks the best next guess for your actual colors, and the Wordle bot grades a finished game guess by guess.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best Wordle starting word?

By information gain, SOARE is the best Wordle starting word at 5.89 bits, leaving about 62 of the 2,315 possible answers on average. ROATE leaves the fewest answers on average (60.4). If you want an opener that can also be the answer, RAISE scores 5.88 bits and has the smallest worst case of any word: never more than 168 answers left.

Is ADIEU a good Wordle starting word?

Not really. ADIEU finds vowels, but vowels split the answer list poorly. It scores 4.88 bits and ranks #682, leaving about 124 answers on average compared with 61 for RAISE.

Is CRANE a good starting word?

Yes. CRANE ranks #16 with 5.74 bits. It is slightly behind SOARE, ROATE and RAISE on the first guess, but it pairs very well with a second word: CRANE followed by SPILT reaches 9.52 bits, the best two-word start among the popular openers we tested.

What is the best second word after RAISE?

If RAISE gives you nothing useful, CLOTH is the best fixed follow-up: together they gain 9.4 bits, which leaves only about 3 possible answers on average. In a real game, enter your colors in the solver instead, because the best second guess depends on what the first one revealed.

Should I use the same starting word every day?

Yes. The best opener depends only on the answer list, not on the day, so a strong fixed opener is a sound habit. The skill is in the second and third guesses, where the right choice depends on the colors you got.