AXIOM
Yes, AXIOM was the Wordle answer on November 21, 2022 (Wordle #520).
Meaning and pronunciation
Pronunciation: /ˈak.sɪ.əm//ˈæk.si.əm//ˈæk.ʃəm/
- Noun
-
A seemingly self-evident or necessary truth which is based on assumption; a principle or proposition which cannot actually be proved or disproved.
- Noun
-
A fundamental assumption that serves as a basis for deduction of theorems; a postulate (sometimes distinguished from postulates as being universally applicable, whereas postulates are particular to a certain science or context).
Source: Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0. Corrections.
Etymology
From Middle French axiome in the 15th century, from Latin axiōma (“axiom; principle”), from Ancient Greek ἀξίωμα (axíōma, “that which is thought to fit, a requisite, that which a pupil is required to know beforehand, a self-evident principle”), from ἀξιόω (axióō, “to think fit or worthy, to require, to demand”), from ἄξιος (áxios, “fit, worthy”, literally “weighing as much as; of like value”), from ἄγω (ágō, “to weigh (down)”).
Source: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA)
How it sounds
Three syllables, stress on the first syllable Say it AKSEEUHM.
Related meanings
Synonyms MAXIM
In a sentence
This axiom is unquestionably true.
Use AXIOM in a puzzle
As an opener, it rules out about 89.0% of possible answers.
Wordle status
A word can be a playable guess without being a possible answer.
Playable guess
YesIncluded in the Wordle guess list used by our tools.
Possible answer
YesIncluded among the answers considered by the solver.
Past Wordle answer
Used oncePast Wordle answer: November 21, 2022 (#520).
See the full page for that puzzle: November 21, 2022 (#520).
The possible-answer list is the solver's current list and may change when Wordle adds new answers.
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See what the public sample says →How AXIOM performs as a guess
AXIOM is a possible answer, so it would solve about one game in 2,384 when every answer is treated as equally likely.
Played as an opener, it lands at least one colored tile in 83.0% of games, misses completely in 17.0%, and leaves about 261 possible answers on average.
In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #12,744 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.83 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 AXIOM 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 AXIOM 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
Example solver route
One example route used by the solver.
This solver benchmark reaches AXIOM in 3 guesses.
Feedback distribution
AXIOM can come back 72 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 AXIOM; 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 AXIOM
What the solver recommends next for each way the board can respond to AXIOM.
Quick reference
Largest feedback groups after playing AXIOM:
Research on AXIOM
Game-tree analysis and word research for AXIOM, with an explanation for each figure.
Optimal play
Opening with AXIOM, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.86 guesses and ranks #12,926 of 14,855 legal openers. The best proven opener, TARSE, averages 3.55.
In hard mode it averages 3.98 guesses at best and is rank #5,768 of the 7,453 openers that can still guarantee a solve within six guesses.
Our six-turn simulation says 3.83, at or below the proven-optimal 3.86, 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
- AXIOM sits in the intermediate band of the wordfreq scale, appearing about once per million words of written English; the band marks it as a word most readers meet regularly.
Sources: Optimal-play values: Alex Selby's exhaustive Wordle analysis (MIT); Pronunciation: CMU Pronouncing Dictionary (BSD); Word relations: Open English WordNet, 2025 edition (CC BY 4.0); Word frequency: wordfreq (data CC BY-SA 4.0).