FLARE
Yes, FLARE was the Wordle answer on November 5, 2023 (Wordle #869).
Meaning and pronunciation
Pronunciation: /flɛə̯//flɛɚ̯//fleː/
- Noun
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A sudden bright light.
- Noun
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A source of brightly burning light or intense heat.
“solar flare”
- Verb
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To cause to burn; in particular, to burn off excess gas.
- Verb
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To cause inflammation; to inflame.
Source: Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0. Corrections.
Etymology
Origin unknown, first recorded in the mid 16th century, probably related to Latin flagrō (“to burn”). Norwegian flara (“to blaze; to flaunt in gaudy attire”) has a similar meaning, but the English word predates it. Possibly related to Middle High German vlederen (“to flutter”), represented by modern German flattern.
Source: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA)
How it sounds
One syllable Say it FLEHR.
Rhymes with THEIR THERE WHERE SHARE AWARE
Related meanings
In a sentence
I can't think right now, I'm in the middle of a flare.
The ship was in distress, to it lit a flare.
Use FLARE in a puzzle
As an opener, it rules out about 95.7% 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 5, 2023 (#869).
See the full page for that puzzle: November 5, 2023 (#869).
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 →FLARE in Connections
4 recorded appearances in completed main-edition puzzles through . A category label alone does not establish a word's meaning.
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· Puzzle #743
Reveal this appearance's category
FLARE appeared in KINDS OF JEANS (yellow group).
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· Puzzle #620
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FLARE appeared in ALERT (yellow group).
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· Puzzle #407
Reveal this appearance's category
FLARE appeared in USED TO REDIRECT TRAFFIC (blue group).
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· Puzzle #289
Reveal this appearance's category
FLARE appeared in SOLAR EMANATIONS (purple group).
How FLARE performs as a guess
FLARE 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 87.2% of games, misses completely in 12.8%, and leaves about 103 possible answers on average.
In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #3,142 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.64 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 FLARE 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 FLARE 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 FLARE in 4 guesses.
Feedback distribution
FLARE can come back 125 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 FLARE; 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 FLARE
What the solver recommends next for each way the board can respond to FLARE.
Quick reference
Largest feedback groups after playing FLARE:
Research on FLARE
Game-tree analysis and word research for FLARE, with an explanation for each figure.
Optimal play
Opening with FLARE, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.65 guesses and ranks #1,797 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 FLARE can guarantee a solve within six guesses.
Our six-turn simulation says 3.64, at or below the proven-optimal 3.65, 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
- FLARE sits in the intermediate band of the wordfreq scale, appearing about 4 times per million words of written English; the band marks it as a word most readers meet regularly.
- Dominant sense
- Lancaster raters associated it most strongly with sight (4.0 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); Lancaster Sensorimotor Norms (CC BY 4.0).