CLOCK
Yes, CLOCK has been the Wordle answer on November 26, 2021 (Wordle #160) and May 12, 2026 (Wordle #1788).
As an opener, it rules out about 83.4% of possible answers.
Meaning and pronunciation
Pronunciation: /klɒk//klɑk/[kl̥ɒχ]
- Noun
-
A chronometer, an instrument that measures time, particularly the time of day.
“When the clock says midnight.”
- Noun
-
A common noun relating to an instrument that measures or keeps track of time.
“A 12-hour clock system; an antique clock sale; Acme is a clock manufacturer.”
- Verb
-
To measure the duration of.
- Verb
-
To measure the speed of.
“He was clocked at 155 miles per hour.”
Alternative forms: CLK
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
YesIncluded in the Wordle guess list used by our tools.
Possible answer
YesIncluded among the answers considered by the solver.
Past Wordle answer
Used 2 timesPast Wordle answer: November 26, 2021 (#160); May 12, 2026 (#1788).
See the full page for each puzzle: November 26, 2021 (#160); May 12, 2026 (#1788).
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 CLOCK performs as a guess
CLOCK 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 64.2% of games, misses completely in 35.8%, and leaves about 394 possible answers on average.
In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #12,775 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 CLOCK 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 CLOCK 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 CLOCK in 4 guesses.
Feedback distribution
CLOCK can come back 65 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 CLOCK; 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 CLOCK
What the solver recommends next for each way the board can respond to CLOCK.
Quick reference
Largest feedback groups after playing CLOCK:
Research on CLOCK
Game-tree analysis and word research for CLOCK, with an explanation for each figure.
Optimal play
Opening with CLOCK, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.84 guesses and ranks #12,229 of 14,855 legal openers. The best proven opener, TARSE, averages 3.55.
In hard mode it averages 3.96 guesses at best and is rank #5,526 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 3.84, 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.
Related meanings
In WordNet's sense inventory, CLOCK is a kind of instrument or measure.
Synonyms time
Familiarity and learning
- Frequency
- CLOCK sits in the common band of the wordfreq scale, appearing about 27 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 4, by Glasgow Norms speaker ratings.
- Imageability
- Imageability score: 91 of 100. Raters found it easy to picture.
- Dominant sense
- Lancaster raters associated it most strongly with sight (4.3 of 5).
In a sentence
It was a good clock.
Don't you see the clock?
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).