ESSAY
Yes, ESSAY was the Wordle answer on October 2, 2021 (Wordle #105).
Meaning and pronunciation
Pronunciation: /ˈɛs.eɪ//ɛˈseɪ/
- Noun
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A written composition of moderate length, exploring a particular issue or subject.
- Noun
-
A proposed design for a postage stamp or a banknote.
- Verb
-
To move forth, as into battle.
- Verb
-
To attempt or try.
“Shall we essay a walk on the promenade?”
Source: Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0. Corrections.
Etymology
Since late 16th century, borrowed from Middle French essay, essai (“essay”), meaning coined by Montaigne at the same time, from the same words with the earlier meanings 'experiment; assay; attempt', from Old French essay, essai, assay, assai, from Latin exagium (“weight; weighing, testing on the balance”), from exigere + -ium.
Source: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA)
How it sounds
Two syllables, stress on the second syllable Say it EHSAY.
Rhymes with TODAY DELAY ANIME SPRAY ARRAY
Related meanings
Synonyms try test attempt PROVE seek examine
In a sentence
Is my essay any good?
This essay is my own.
Use ESSAY in a puzzle
As an opener, it rules out about 91.1% 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: October 2, 2021 (#105).
See the full page for that puzzle: October 2, 2021 (#105).
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 →ESSAY in Connections
2 recorded appearances in completed main-edition puzzles through . A category label alone does not establish a word's meaning.
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· Puzzle #893
Reveal this appearance's category
ESSAY appeared in WORDS THAT SOUND LIKE TWO LETTERS (purple group).
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· Puzzle #369
Reveal this appearance's category
ESSAY appeared in WRITING ASSIGNMENTS (yellow group).
How ESSAY performs as a guess
ESSAY 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 85.3% of games, misses completely in 14.7%, and leaves about 211 possible answers on average.
In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #13,358 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.86 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 ESSAY 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 ESSAY 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 ESSAY in 4 guesses.
Feedback distribution
ESSAY 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 ESSAY; 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 ESSAY
What the solver recommends next for each way the board can respond to ESSAY.
Quick reference
Largest feedback groups after playing ESSAY:
Research on ESSAY
Game-tree analysis and word research for ESSAY, with an explanation for each figure.
Optimal play
Opening with ESSAY, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.87 guesses and ranks #13,110 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 ESSAY can guarantee a solve within six guesses.
Our six-turn simulation says 3.86, at or below the proven-optimal 3.87, 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
- ESSAY sits in the common band of the wordfreq scale, appearing about 17 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 A2); among the first words English learners study.
- Dominant sense
- Lancaster raters associated it most strongly with sight (3.8 of 5).
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; Lancaster Sensorimotor Norms (CC BY 4.0).