The Best Wordle Starting Words, by Three Different Measures
The best Wordle starting word depends on what you want it to do. For most people, the practical answer is a familiar word that uses common letters and performs well across several measures. You do not need to replace a good routine for a tiny statistical gain.
An opener is simply your first guess. After its coloured feedback, the words that could still be the answer form a shortlist. A strong opener usually divides the answer pool into useful, manageable shortlists.
In the current evaluated screen, SLANT best protects the six-turn solve before comparing successful-game length. TARSE reveals the most first-turn information, while ROATE leaves the smallest average shortlist.
How we tested this
The six-turn ranking follows the live solver strategy after each of 182 screened, Wordle-valid opening guesses across 2,374 answers. The screen combines 100 leaders from the previous complete benchmark with 100 current one-step leaders. Overlapping words are evaluated once. This is a focused screen, not an exhaustive ranking of every accepted guess. The first-turn figures use the site's current 2,374 possible answers and form a separate comparison.
What does "best" mean?
The six-turn measure plays every tested answer to the end. Exact misses come first, then average guesses among successful games break a tie. SLANT currently leads this measure with 0 misses; 3.456 avg when solved.
The information measure looks only at turn one. It uses Shannon entropy, a number that rises when the feedback splits possible answers into balanced groups. TARSE leads at 5.95 bits.
The shortlist measure is more direct: how many answers remain on average after the first feedback? ROATE leads at 62 words left. Because the last two measures stop after turn one, their winner need not be the word that performs best across a complete six-turn game.
| What "best" means | Winner | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Fewest guesses to win | SLANT | 0 misses; 3.456 avg when solved |
| Most information per guess | TARSE | 5.95 bits |
| Fewest words left | ROATE | 62 words left |
Which measure should you use?
Use the six-turn ranking if you care most about finishing safely, then winning in fewer guesses. Use information or shortlist size when you want to study the quality of the opening move by itself. Exact miss counts still matter when rounded win rates look identical.
A word can split the pool beautifully on turn one and still leave awkward follow-ups. That is why a complete-game winner can differ from a first-turn winner.
| Rank | Word | Missed in six | Avg guesses | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SLANTFrozen key word=slant |
0 | 3.456 | 100.0 |
| 2 | TARSEFrozen key word=tarse |
0 | 3.457 | 100.0 |
| 3 | CARLEFrozen key word=carle |
0 | 3.460 | 100.0 |
| 4 | SLANEFrozen key word=slane |
0 | 3.461 | 100.0 |
| 5 | SLARTFrozen key word=slart |
0 | 3.461 | 100.0 |
| 6 | TRACEFrozen key word=trace |
0 | 3.462 | 100.0 |
| 7 | CRATEFrozen key word=crate |
0 | 3.462 | 100.0 |
| 8 | ROASTFrozen key word=roast |
0 | 3.462 | 100.0 |
| 9 | CARNEFrozen key word=carne |
0 | 3.464 | 100.0 |
| 10 | LEASTFrozen key word=least |
0 | 3.464 | 100.0 |
| 11 | CRANEFrozen key word=crane |
0 | 3.466 | 100.0 |
| 12 | REASTFrozen key word=reast |
0 | 3.466 | 100.0 |
| 13 | SALETFrozen key word=salet |
0 | 3.466 | 100.0 |
| 14 | CARTEFrozen key word=carte |
0 | 3.470 | 100.0 |
| 15 | CLASTFrozen key word=clast |
0 | 3.470 | 100.0 |
| 16 | SLATEFrozen key word=slate |
0 | 3.470 | 100.0 |
| 17 | TRICEFrozen key word=trice |
0 | 3.472 | 100.0 |
| 18 | CARSEFrozen key word=carse |
0 | 3.473 | 100.0 |
| 19 | ROISTFrozen key word=roist |
0 | 3.473 | 100.0 |
| 20 | SAINTFrozen key word=saint |
0 | 3.474 | 100.0 |
These familiar recommendations can be compared with the screened median of 3.500 guesses:
| Word | Rank | Missed in six | Avg guesses | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
CRANEFrozen key word=crane |
11 | 0 | 3.466 | 100.0 |
SLATEFrozen key word=slate |
16 | 0 | 3.470 | 100.0 |
TRACEFrozen key word=trace |
6 | 0 | 3.462 | 100.0 |
CRATEFrozen key word=crate |
7 | 0 | 3.462 | 100.0 |
SALETFrozen key word=salet |
13 | 0 | 3.466 | 100.0 |
STAREFrozen key word=stare |
73 | 0 | 3.496 | 100.0 |
RAISEFrozen key word=raise |
108 | 0 | 3.507 | 100.0 |
IRATEFrozen key word=irate |
117 | 0 | 3.509 | 100.0 |
ROATEFrozen key word=roate |
103 | 0 | 3.505 | 100.0 |
AROSEFrozen key word=arose |
83 | 0 | 3.499 | 100.0 |
Work through the practical choice
- Check reliability. SLANT records 0 misses within six. CRANE records 0.
- Check speed. SLANT averages 3.456 guesses per successful game. CRANE averages 3.466 and ranks 11 in the screen.
- Judge the size of the difference. A measurable lead can still be too small to matter in an ordinary game.
- Use familiarity as the final test. If CRANE or another strong word already gives you confident second moves, keeping it can be more useful than chasing a narrow lead.
The tables show where CRANE, SLATE, TRACE, CRATE and other popular choices sit today. A small difference is real, but it does not automatically justify relearning your opening move.
Check your own starting word
The Opener Lab lets you compare any two first words. The top 50 rankings protect the six-turn solve before comparing successful-game length, with first-turn information shown alongside. The maths guide explains how each measure is calculated.
Pick your goal
Choose what you want from an opener. The activity points to the matching leader without pretending that one definition answers every question.
Without the selector, all three recommendations are shown below.
SLANT
0 misses; 3.456 avg when solved. This ranking minimises exact six-turn misses first, then compares average guesses in successful games.
TARSE
5.95 bits. This word creates the most first-turn information in the current comparison.
ROATE
62 words left. This word leaves the smallest average number of possible answers after one turn.
Curious how your own opener measures up?
Open the Opener Lab