There is hardly the possibility that you still haven’t heard of Wordle. This web-based word game, even though a few years old, remains massively popular. However, that doesn’t mean it’s easy, as most folks find starting with the right words the most difficult. We felt the same, so we compiled a list of the best starting words in Wordle that you should try out right now. So without further ado, open up Wordle in another tab, and let’s do this.
Top Wordle Starting Words: Our Approach
Looking up online, you will see that there is a ton of advice littered around on the Internet regarding the best starting words to use in Wordle. While most of the advice is correct, we are going to list some of our own general tips you can apply to the game.
- Don’t repeat letters: For those unaware, Wordle is a game that only accepts five-letter words as input with only six tries. As such, every try is important. So whenever playing, ensure you never repeat letters to maximize your chances of ticking all of them off.
- Use vowel-heavy words: A prevalent advice that you will see online is that you should always eliminate your vowels first. This is done to ensure you get them out of the way and then narrow down the other letters. So whenever possible, make sure the best Wordle starting words have the most vowels.
- Don’t rush: While this might sound obvious, most folks rush through their six tries and then wait 24 hours. While you can open an incognito tab, if you’re using an official NYT account, take your time before exhausting all the tries.
If you found the above tips useful and are looking for more, stay tuned for our best Wordle tips and tricks guide, which is coming soon.
Best Wordle Starting Words (In Our Experience)
Following our tips above, here are the absolute best starting words you should use in Wordle. We narrowed these words from various sources and have tried them out for ourselves. While they might not be the straight-up answer, they will help you get started in eliminating the fluff and narrowing down the words.
- ARISE
- RATIO
- WHIRL
- ABOUT
- AROSE
- RAISE
- IDEAL
- TALES
- AISLE
- MEDIA
- CRATE
- LUCKY
- TRACE
- BAKER
- PILOT
I personally prefer starting with ‘ARISE’ as it contains a large number of vowels and helps get them out of the way. I then follow along with another word or two until the answer is almost obvious. As I said before, it won’t help you give the answer at once, but it will definitely make the job of doing so easier.
Best Worlde Starting Words According to ChatGPT
If you’ve followed our AI coverage, then you knew this was coming. ChatGPT, at this point in time, can do anything and everything. The recently launched ChatGPT Code Interpreter lends even more power to the bot and helps it defeat some of the best ChatGPT alternatives out there. It is only natural then that we decided to throw some English puzzles its way.
Put simply, I asked ChatGPT to make me a list of 15 words that it believes will be helpful in solving my next Wordle puzzle. I further asked ChatGPT it’s reasoning behind this list. The AI chatbot spewed out the following words because of their combination of diversity of starting letters, variety of letters, and their commonplace nature. The following are the best starting Wordle words according to ChatGPT.
- APPLE
- BRAVE
- CHASE
- DRIFT
- ELBOW
- FLOCK
- GRAIN
- HORSE
- INDEX
- JUMPS
- KNEAD
- LEMON
- MUSIC
- QUICK
- STORM
What Are the 5 Best First Words for Wordle
Going through the lists above, you might be confused about all the variety and, instead, just need a straightforward answer. Well, while there is no concrete list of the absolute five words, given below are our personal persona of the best five starting words for Wordle.
- ARISE
- AISLE
- CRANE
- TALES
- QUITE
My favorite word from all the starting ones for Wordle is definitely ‘Arise.’ Since it contains the most number of vowels along with a good distribution of consonants, it gets some of the letters out of the way. If some of the tricky letters are left, I follow along with ‘Crane’ as it is, by other sources, one of the best words to use. I’ll explain the same below.
While I also use some or all of the other words listed here, there are times when I go another way altogether. At the end of the day, it depends on the puzzle in front of you and how your method might change when facing it.
Best Wordle Starting Words According to Experts
It seems that the ongoing debate of the best starting Worlde words has also been noticed by academia. There have been a couple of studies and analyses done by researchers, and each have their own take on the best word. Here are some of the best starting words for Wordle, according to experts.
- MIT – Tired of guessing, a pair of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) decided to conduct their own study and answer this question once and for all. Conducting their research and running it through an algorithm, the pair determined the best starting Worlde word is ‘SALET,’ a 15th-century helmet. The pair have even published a peer-reviewed paper titled “An Exact and Interpretable Solution to Wordle” which you can check out for yourself.
- Wordlebot – NYT’s official bot launched to help analyze and have fun with Wordle results is yet another helpful resource. Besides assessing a user’s past Wordle results, the assistant also has a list of words it considers the best openers.
- SLATE – Wordlebot’s top pick in regular mode
- LEAST – The bot’s best choice in hard mode
- CRANE – Previously the top pick for regular but still outstanding
- DEALT – Previously the top pick for hard mode, but still an amazing pick
- Information Theory – Computer programmer Grant Sanderson decided to take matters into his own hands. Using a combination of information theory and probability, Grant decided to write a computer program that simulated how games might play out on multiple incorrect guesses. Saving you the jargon, the best word starting word, according to Grant Sanderson, is “CRANE.” While it might feel a bit anti-climactic, it’s one of the best starting words you can use in Wordle.
