ACUTE
Yes, ACUTE has been the Wordle answer on December 26, 2021 (Wordle #190) and June 26, 2026 (Wordle #1833).
Meaning and pronunciation
Pronunciation: /əˈkjuːt//əˈkjut/
- Adjective
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Brief, quick, short.
“It was an acute event.”
- Adjective
-
High or shrill.
“an acute accent or tone”
- Noun
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A person who has the acute form of a disorder, such as schizophrenia.
- Noun
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An acute accent (´).
“The word ‘cafe’ often has an acute over the ‘e’.”
Source: Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0. Corrections.
Etymology
From Late Middle English acute (“of a disease or fever: starting suddenly and lasting for a short time; of a humour: irritating, sharp”), from Latin acūta, from acūtus (“sharp, sharpened”), perfect passive participle of acuō (“to make pointed, sharpen, whet”), from acus (“needle, pin”). The word is cognate to ague (“acute, intermittent fever”).
Source: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA)
How it sounds
Two syllables, stress on the second syllable Say it UHKYOOT.
Rhymes with SHOOT ROUTE FRUIT FLUTE BRUTE
Related meanings by dictionary sense
adjective
having or experiencing a rapid onset and short but severe course
acute appendicitis
the acute phase of the illness
acute patients
Opposites for this sense: chronic.
adjective
extremely sharp or severe
acute pain
felt acute annoyance
Synonyms for this sense: intense.
adjective
having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
an acute observer of politics and politicians
Synonyms for this sense: sharp, keen, piercing, penetrating, discriminating.
adjective
of an angle; less than 90 degrees
Opposites for this sense: obtuse.
adjective
ending in a sharp point
Synonyms for this sense: sharp.
adjective
of critical importance and consequence
an acute (or critical) lack of research funds
noun
a mark placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation
Open English WordNet, 2025 edition, CC BY 4.0. Source dictionary. Senses are kept separate; no puzzle appearance is assigned to a meaning without evidence.
In a sentence
You have very acute hearing.
Her hearing is particularly acute.
Use ACUTE in a puzzle
As an opener, it rules out about 95.6% of possible answers.
Wordle status
Answer chance: possible. Roughly 14.96% within a year (about 1 in 7), under the model through 2026-11-05. This is an estimate, not a publisher forecast. How this is calculated.
Playable guess
YesIncluded in the Wordle guess list used by our tools.
Earlier benchmark pool
YesMembership in the preserved uniform benchmark; it is not a future eligibility rule.
Past Wordle answer
Used 2 timesPast Wordle answer: December 26, 2021 (#190); June 26, 2026 (#1833).
See the full page for each puzzle: December 26, 2021 (#190); June 26, 2026 (#1833).
The possible-answer list is the solver's current list and may change when Wordle adds new answers.
Reported player results
Voluntary self-reported sample, not representative of all players. Solver scores do not measure human difficulty. Small or complementary cells stay private.
Wordle #1833 · June 26, 2026
Not enough publishable evidence yet. The minimum is 10 reports per protected group; complementary suppression can also withhold a larger group.
Wordle #190 · December 26, 2021
Not enough publishable evidence yet. The minimum is 10 reports per protected group; complementary suppression can also withhold a larger group.
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See what the public sample says →ACUTE in Connections
1 recorded appearance in completed main-edition puzzles through . A category label alone does not establish a word's meaning.
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· Puzzle #17
Reveal this appearance's category
ACUTE appeared in ___ TRIANGLE (purple group).
How ACUTE performs as a guess
ACUTE is a possible answer, so it would solve about one game in 2,392 when every answer is treated as equally likely.
Played as an opener, it lands at least one colored tile in 90.1% of games, misses completely in 9.9%, and leaves about 106 possible answers on average.
In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #3,800 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.65 guesses in games solved within six turns.
Try your feedback pattern
Tap the tiles to match your feedback, then see the ranked follow-up guesses.
Useful pattern pages
If you only know part of the word, start with one of these matching patterns.
First-turn measures
All four describe ACUTE used as an opening guess. Entropy is the same idea as “avg ruled out” on a log scale: a higher number means the guess splits the possible answers into more, smaller groups.
As an opening guess: previous benchmark
How ACUTE performed in the previous complete opener benchmark, against its captured answer snapshot. These research figures are separate from today's solver recommendations. See the data page for the method.
Composition
Feedback chances
When ACUTE is useful later
No standout example in the positions tested. All 108 sampled states were checked; ACUTE was legal in 54.
Sample and method
Every saved board is reachable within a six-turn game. Remaining turns equal six minus the saved history length. The sampling policy is independent of the expected-survivor metric. Two states at each of three depths per opener were selected by a fixed hash from an independent candidate-only sampling policy. Every accepted guess was evaluated. Model answer-model-2026-11-05-9183a914c959, data through 2026-11-05. The score measures expected survivors, not proved solve length or human difficulty.
How the solver finds ACUTE
The strategy receives only earlier guesses and their feedback. It does not know the answer before choosing a move. Guessing the answer itself on turn one is a lucky one-turn result, not a recommended general strategy.
Normal mode
Our solver: bounded weighted policy. Current-pool replay over 14,855 accepted words. Model through 2026-11-05.
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The fixed opener tests its five letters.
14,855 before → 22 after. This feedback leaves 22 candidates.
All 22 surviving candidates
ABATE, ACUTE, AGATE, ALATE, AMATE, ANTAE, ATOKE, ATONE, AXITE, AZOTE, BLATE, COATE, ELATE, ENATE, ETAGE, ETAPE, OLATE, OVATE, PLATE, POTAE, QUATE, VITAE
Decision measures before feedback
Expected remaining candidates: 414.45. Information: 5.74 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.
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Test ABATE against the 22 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.
22 before → 3 after. This feedback leaves 3 candidates.
All 3 surviving candidates
ACUTE, AXITE, AZOTE
Decision measures before feedback
Expected remaining candidates: 2.407. Information: 1.77 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.
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Test ACUTE against the 3 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.
3 before → 1 after. The answer is submitted and solved.
All 1 surviving candidates
ACUTE
Decision measures before feedback
Expected remaining candidates: 1.006. Information: 0.052 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.
Solved in 3 guesses. Uniquely identified on turn 3.
Continue this board in the SolverHard Mode
Our solver: bounded weighted policy. Current-pool replay over 14,855 accepted words. Model through 2026-11-05.
-
The fixed opener tests its five letters.
14,855 before → 22 after. This feedback leaves 22 candidates.
All 22 surviving candidates
ABATE, ACUTE, AGATE, ALATE, AMATE, ANTAE, ATOKE, ATONE, AXITE, AZOTE, BLATE, COATE, ELATE, ENATE, ETAGE, ETAPE, OLATE, OVATE, PLATE, POTAE, QUATE, VITAE
Decision measures before feedback
Expected remaining candidates: 414.45. Information: 5.74 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.
-
Test ABATE against the 22 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.
22 before → 3 after. This feedback leaves 3 candidates.
All 3 surviving candidates
ACUTE, AXITE, AZOTE
Decision measures before feedback
Expected remaining candidates: 2.407. Information: 1.77 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.
-
Test ACUTE against the 3 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.
3 before → 1 after. The answer is submitted and solved.
All 1 surviving candidates
ACUTE
Decision measures before feedback
Expected remaining candidates: 1.006. Information: 0.052 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.
Solved in 3 guesses. Uniquely identified on turn 3.
Continue this board in the SolverHistorical proven-optimal benchmark: July 2023
Alex Selby’s strategy minimises the mean over its complete 3,158-answer snapshot. A route for one answer is not proof of the shortest possible route for that answer, and is separate from the current weighted model.
Normal mode
Selby’s proven-optimal strategy. July 2023 snapshot: 3,158 equally likely answers; minimum mean guesses.
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The fixed opener tests its five letters.
3,158 before → 7 after. This feedback leaves 7 candidates.
All 7 surviving candidates
ABATE, ACUTE, AGATE, ATONE, ELATE, OVATE, PLATE
Decision measures before feedback
Expected remaining candidates: 100.074. Information: 5.888 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.
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Test ABOUT against the 7 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.
7 before → 1 after. This feedback leaves 1 candidate.
All 1 surviving candidates
ACUTE
Decision measures before feedback
Expected remaining candidates: 1.286. Information: 2.522 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.
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Submit the only remaining candidate.
1 before → 1 after. The answer is submitted and solved.
All 1 surviving candidates
ACUTE
Decision measures before feedback
Expected remaining candidates: 1.0. Information: 0.0 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.
Solved in 3 guesses. Uniquely identified on turn 2.
Continue this board in the SolverHard Mode
Selby’s proven-optimal strategy. July 2023 snapshot: 3,158 equally likely answers; minimum mean guesses.
-
The fixed opener tests its five letters.
3,158 before → 7 after. This feedback leaves 7 candidates.
All 7 surviving candidates
ABATE, ACUTE, AGATE, ATONE, ELATE, OVATE, PLATE
Decision measures before feedback
Expected remaining candidates: 100.074. Information: 5.888 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.
-
Test ABATE against the 7 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.
7 before → 1 after. This feedback leaves 1 candidate.
All 1 surviving candidates
ACUTE
Decision measures before feedback
Expected remaining candidates: 1.857. Information: 2.128 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.
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Submit the only remaining candidate.
1 before → 1 after. The answer is submitted and solved.
All 1 surviving candidates
ACUTE
Decision measures before feedback
Expected remaining candidates: 1.0. Information: 0.0 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.
Solved in 3 guesses. Uniquely identified on turn 2.
Continue this board in the SolverSource: Alex Selby’s Wordle analysis, MIT. Licence and attribution.
How the fixed opener panel performs on this answer
| Opener | First feedback | Survivors | Normal | Hard Mode |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TARSE | 11002 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green) | 22 | 3 | 3 |
| CRANE | 10102 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green) | 12 | 3 | 2 |
| SLATE | 00122 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green) | 19 | 3 | 2 |
| ADIEU | 20011 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green) | 11 | 3 | 3 |
| STARE | 01102 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green) | 36 | 3 | 3 |
| AUDIO | 21000 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green) | 55 | 3 | 3 |
| RAISE | 01002 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green) | 142 | 4 | 4 |
| ROATE | 00122 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green) | 22 | 3 | 3 |
| SALET | 01011 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green) | 92 | 4 | 4 |
- Normal mode
- 1 guess: 0 · 2 guesses: 0 · 3 guesses: 7 · 4 guesses: 2 · 5 guesses: 0 · 6 guesses: 0 · Failed in six: 0
- Hard Mode
- 1 guess: 0 · 2 guesses: 2 · 3 guesses: 5 · 4 guesses: 2 · 5 guesses: 0 · 6 guesses: 0 · Failed in six: 0
The nine openers use the same pool and continuation policy. Across both modes: 2–4 guesses among successes; 0 of 18 configurations failed. This is performance on this answer, not an overall opener ranking.
328 openers set up a two-turn opportunity; examples include CAUSE, SCENE, COSTS, SCALE, SCORE, ADULT, STUCK, ABUSE, ACTOR, FAULT. After their feedback, this answer is among the most likely survivors with at least half the model probability. This is an opportunity, not a guarantee. An opener that immediately solves is excluded.
Why this answer can be difficult
The worked board still allows 3 different answers at one later decision: ACUTE, AXITE, AZOTE. These are mechanical alternatives, not a judgement of vocabulary difficulty.
Vocabulary evidence and voluntary player results are reported separately from these solver observations.
Closest competing answers in this board
These words all fit the earlier feedback, rather than merely sharing similar spelling: ACUTE, AXITE, AZOTE.
A lesson from this route
Before ACUTE, 3 words still fit. Its feedback left 1; check the full survivor list before choosing the next answer.
Try another opener or a different move
How this is calculated
The current policy checks all remaining candidates and up to 128 fixed probes. At six or fewer candidates it uses bounded lookahead, preferring modelled six-turn success, then speed among successes. Larger states use expected survivors as a heuristic. These are recommendations, not proofs of optimal play. Hard Mode retains green positions and revealed letter counts; it allows grey letters and a yellow in the same position. Candidate-only play is stricter.
Feedback distribution
ACUTE can come back 108 different ways. These are the most likely, and how many of the possible answers give each one:
Letter-value totals
Base letter-value totals for ACUTE; these do not show whether either game accepts the word.
Scrabble
Words With Friends
Scores shown are base values without double/triple letter or word bonuses.
Try next
Strategy after playing ACUTE
What the solver recommends next for each way the board can respond to ACUTE.
Quick reference
Largest feedback groups after playing ACUTE:
Research on ACUTE
Game-tree analysis and word research for ACUTE, with an explanation for each figure.
Optimal play
Opening with ACUTE, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.67 guesses and ranks #2,784 of 14,855 legal openers. The best proven opener, TARSE, averages 3.55.
No guaranteed hard-mode solve In hard mode, no strategy that opens with ACUTE can guarantee a solve within six guesses.
Our six-turn simulation says 3.65, at or below the proven-optimal 3.67, because the two figures score different answer lists.
These figures come from exhaustive game-tree search and are exact for the NYT lists of July 2023 (3,158 answers). They do not use the site's working answer pool.
Familiarity and learning
- Frequency
- ACUTE sits in the common band of the wordfreq scale, appearing about 10 times per million words in the source corpus. Corpus frequency does not measure every reader’s familiarity.
- Learner level
- Appears in intermediate learner vocabulary (CEFR-J level B2); a word learners usually reach after the basics.
- Age of acquisition
- Typically learned around age 11, by Glasgow Norms speaker ratings.
- Imageability
- Imageability score: 30 of 100. Raters found it difficult to picture.
- Dominant sense
- Lancaster raters associated it most strongly with sight (2.0 of 5).
Sources: Optimal-play values: Alex Selby's exhaustive Wordle analysis (MIT); Pronunciation: CMU Pronouncing Dictionary (BSD); Word frequency: wordfreq (data CC BY-SA 4.0); Learner levels: CEFR-J Wordlist ver 1.5, Tono Laboratory, TUFS; Glasgow Norms (CC BY 4.0); Lancaster Sensorimotor Norms (CC BY 4.0).