5 FiveLetterWords
Past Wordle answer Possible answer Accepted guess C tier for first-turn info

BUILD

Yes, BUILD was the Wordle answer on February 21, 2024 (Wordle #977).

As an opener, it rules out about 88.8% of possible answers.

Open Solver with BUILD Open Word Finder

Meaning and pronunciation

Pronunciation: /bɪld/

Verb

To form (something) by combining materials or parts.

“I built a shed in my backyard.”

Verb

To develop or give form to (something) according to a plan or process.

“He will build an organization equipped for success.”

Noun

The physique of a human or animal body, or other object; constitution or structure.

“Rugby players are of sturdy build.”

Noun

Any of various versions of a software product as it is being developed for release to users.

“The computer company has introduced a new prototype build to beta testers.”

Source: Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0. Corrections.

Wordle status

A word can be a playable guess without being a possible answer.

Playable guess

Yes

Included in the Wordle guess list used by our tools.

Possible answer

Yes

Included among the answers considered by the solver.

Past Wordle answer

Used once

Past Wordle answer: February 21, 2024 (#977).

See the full page for that puzzle: February 21, 2024 (#977).

The possible-answer list is the solver's current list and may change when Wordle adds new answers.

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How verification and withdrawal work

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How BUILD performs as a guess

BUILD is a possible answer, so it would solve about one game in 2,374 when every answer is treated as equally likely.

Played as an opener, it lands at least one colored tile in 71.2% of games, misses completely in 28.8%, and leaves about 265 possible answers on average.

In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #3,977 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.

All gray? Tap a tile to cycle gray → yellow → green.
See strategy patterns

Useful pattern pages

If you only know part of the word, start with one of these matching patterns.

B___D B in the 1st position and D in the 5th position B__L_ B in the 1st position and L in the 4th position _U__D U in the 2nd position and D in the 5th position

Explore lists that match the beginning, ending or letters in BUILD.

First-turn measures

All four describe BUILD 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.

4.42 Entropy (bits)
265 Avg remaining
0.04% Exact match
88.8% Avg ruled out
Higher first-turn entropy than about 47% of evaluated openers
1.52 bits below the highest measured first-turn entropy (~5.95 bits)

As an opening guess: previous benchmark

How BUILD 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.

3.65 Avg guesses
99.96% Solved within six
0.69 Spread of game lengths
#3,977 Rank among openers
Opening with BUILD left 1 of the snapshot's answers unsolved after six guesses. A spread of 0.69 means those games clustered within about 0.69 of a guess of the 3.65 average. It ranks #3,977 of 14,855 openers by average guesses in games solved within six.
1 guess
1
2 guesses
66
3 guesses
897
4 guesses
1,187
5 guesses
188
6 guesses
14
Top-ranked in the current bounded policy screen: SLANT. The policy minimizes misses within six first, then average guesses among wins (3.46 for the leader). Compare the ranking measures

Composition

5/5 unique
2 vowels
Common:
ILU

Feedback chances

Any hit (G/Y)
71%
Green tile
33%
All gray
29%

Example solver route

R O A T E
S L I M Y
D O U G H
B U I L D

One example route used by the solver.

This solver benchmark reaches BUILD in 4 guesses.

Feedback distribution

BUILD can come back 105 different ways. These are the most likely, and how many of the possible answers give each one:

683 answers
231 answers
185 answers
137 answers
131 answers
98 answers
86 answers
66 answers
58 answers
52 answers
41 answers
41 answers
32 answers
31 answers
31 answers
29 answers
19 answers
19 answers
19 answers
18 answers
17 answers
15 answers
15 answers
14 answers
13 answers
13 answers
12 answers
11 answers
11 answers
11 answers

Letter-value totals

Base letter-value totals for BUILD; these do not show whether either game accepts the word.

Scrabble

B3U1I1L1D2
Total: 8 points

Words With Friends

Total: 11 points

Scores shown are base values without double/triple letter or word bonuses.

Try next

TARSE REAST SIENT STANE CRUST DRONE

Strategy after playing BUILD

What the solver recommends next for each way the board can respond to BUILD.

Quick reference

Largest feedback groups after playing BUILD:

29% chance
Suggested:
TARSE
10% chance
Suggested:
REAST
8% chance
Suggested:
SIENT

Follow-ups for common patterns

Ranked follow-up guesses for the 10 most common feedback patterns.

28.8% →
TARSE 6.48 bits
9.7% →
REAST 5.43 bits
7.8% →
SIENT 5.13 bits
5.8% →
STANE 5.06 bits
5.5% →
CRUST 5.35 bits
4.1% →
DRONE 5.29 bits
3.6% →
MORNE 4.29 bits
2.8% →
SALLE 4.50 bits
2.4% →
LEANT 4.30 bits
2.2% →
TRONE 4.74 bits

Research on BUILD

Game-tree analysis and word research for BUILD, with an explanation for each figure.

Optimal play

Opening with BUILD, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.69 guesses and ranks #3,940 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 BUILD can guarantee a solve within six guesses.

Our six-turn simulation says 3.65, at or below the proven-optimal 3.69, 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.

How it sounds

One syllable Say it BIHLD.

Rhymes with GUILD

Related meanings

In WordNet's sense inventory, BUILD is a kind of property or body.

Synonyms make form figure progress SHAPE FRAME

Familiarity and learning

Frequency
BUILD sits in the common band of the wordfreq scale, appearing about 110 times per million words of written English; the band marks it as an everyday word almost every player will know.
Learner level
Appears in beginner learner vocabulary (CEFR-J level A1); among the first words English learners study.
Age of acquisition
Typically learned around age 5, by Glasgow Norms speaker ratings.
Imageability
Imageability score: 79 of 100. Raters found it easy to picture.
Dominant sense
Lancaster raters associated it most strongly with sight (3.5 of 5).

In a sentence

Can you build a house?
© tatoeba.org contributor Amastan (CC BY 2.0 FR)
When did they build that?
© tatoeba.org contributor CK (CC BY 2.0 FR)

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); Learner levels: CEFR-J Wordlist ver 1.5, Tono Laboratory, TUFS; Glasgow Norms (CC BY 4.0); Lancaster Sensorimotor Norms (CC BY 4.0).