Accepted guess Not a possible answer C tier for first-turn info

ERSES

ERSES is accepted as a guess but is not on the solver's possible-answer list.

No dictionary definition for ERSES is recorded in our sourced data.

Meaning and pronunciation

We do not have a sourced definition for this word yet.

Check ERSES on Wiktionary or report a missing entry.

Related meanings

Synonyms gaelic

Use ERSES in a puzzle

As an opener, it rules out about 89.6% of possible answers.

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

No

The solver does not currently treat this as a possible answer.

Past Wordle answer

No completed appearance

No appearance in our globally completed history. A recent puzzle may still be live elsewhere.

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

How ERSES performs as a guess

Wordle accepts ERSES as a guess, but the solver does not list it as a possible answer.

Played as an opener, it lands at least one colored tile in 75.0% of games, misses completely in 25.0%, and leaves about 248 possible answers on average.

In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #13,100 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.85 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.

First-turn measures

All four describe ERSES 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.

4.12 Entropy (bits)
248 Avg remaining
0.0% Exact match
89.6% Avg ruled out

As an opening guess: previous benchmark

How ERSES 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.

3.85 Avg guesses
99.92% Solved within six
0.72 Spread of game lengths
#13,100 Rank among openers
Opening with ERSES left 2 of the snapshot's answers unsolved after six guesses. A spread of 0.72 means those games clustered within about 0.72 of a guess of the 3.85 average. It ranks #13,100 of 14,855 openers by average guesses in games solved within six.
1 guess
0
2 guesses
34
3 guesses
683
4 guesses
1,268
5 guesses
342
6 guesses
25

Composition

3/5 unique
2 vowels
Common:
ERS

Feedback chances

Any hit (G/Y)
75%
Green tile
30%
All gray
25%

Feedback distribution

ERSES can come back 65 different ways. These are the most likely, and how many of the possible answers give each one:

595 answers
278 answers
209 answers
195 answers
134 answers
117 answers
107 answers
102 answers
86 answers
71 answers
63 answers
33 answers
32 answers
31 answers
27 answers
21 answers
21 answers
16 answers
16 answers
15 answers
14 answers
14 answers
14 answers
11 answers
11 answers
11 answers
10 answers
10 answers
10 answers
8 answers

Letter-value totals

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

Scrabble

E1R1S1E1S1
Total: 5 points

Words With Friends

Total: 5 points

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

Strategy after playing ERSES

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

Quick reference

Largest feedback groups after playing ERSES:

25% chance
Suggested:
TALON
12% chance
Suggested:
LIANE
9% chance
Suggested:
SLANT

Follow-ups for common patterns

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

25.0% →
TALON 5.72 bits
11.7% →
LIANE 5.33 bits
8.8% →
SLANT 5.19 bits
8.2% →
CAROL 5.23 bits
5.6% →
TRAIN 4.33 bits
4.9% →
SLANT 4.85 bits
4.5% →
POTAE 3.31 bits
4.3% →
REACT 4.61 bits
3.6% →
LADEN 4.38 bits
3.0% →
COATE 4.07 bits

Research on ERSES

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

Optimal play

Opening with ERSES, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.86 guesses and ranks #13,016 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 ERSES can guarantee a solve within six guesses.

Our six-turn simulation says 3.85, 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.

Sources: Optimal-play values: Alex Selby's exhaustive Wordle analysis (MIT); Word relations: Open English WordNet, 2025 edition (CC BY 4.0).