Very unlikely Accepted guess B tier for first-turn info

HEARE

HEARE is an accepted guess. Its modelled answer likelihood is very unlikely; no globally completed appearance is recorded here.

Meaning and pronunciation

Verb

Obsolete spelling of hear.

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

Use HEARE in a puzzle

As an opener, it rules out about 94.5% of possible answers.

Wordle status

Answer chance: very unlikely. Roughly 0.05% within a year (about 1 in 2,113), under the model through 2026-11-05. This is an estimate, not a publisher forecast. How this is calculated.

Playable guess

Yes

Included in the Wordle guess list used by our tools.

Earlier benchmark pool

No

Membership in the preserved uniform benchmark; it is not a future eligibility rule.

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 HEARE performs as a guess

Wordle accepts HEARE as a guess. It is outside this preserved uniform benchmark’s answer pool; that is not a claim about future eligibility.

Played as an opener, it lands at least one colored tile in 84.1% of games, misses completely in 15.9%, and leaves about 132 possible answers on average.

In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #7,793 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.72 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 HEARE 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.

5.10 Entropy (bits)
132 Avg remaining
0.0% Exact match
94.5% Avg ruled out

As an opening guess: previous benchmark

How HEARE 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.

3.72 Avg guesses
99.96% Solved within six
0.75 Spread of game lengths
#7,793 Rank among openers
Opening with HEARE left 1 of the snapshot's answers unsolved after six guesses. A spread of 0.75 means those games clustered within about 0.75 of a guess of the 3.72 average. It ranks #7,793 of 14,855 openers by average guesses in games solved within six.
1 guess
0
2 guesses
64
3 guesses
872
4 guesses
1,110
5 guesses
280
6 guesses
27

Composition

4/5 unique
3 vowels
Common:
AER

Feedback chances

Any hit (G/Y)
84%
Green tile
40%
All gray
16%

When HEARE is useful later

HEARE tied for the smallest expected survivor count in 1 of 55 sampled positions where it was legal. This designed sample is not a measure of how often real players should use it.

After SALET: 4 candidates, normal mode

SALET: 11000 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

PIAIS: 01102 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

NOIAS: 00222 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

AMIAS: 00222 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

Remaining answers: CHIAS, CRIAS, HUIAS, KUIAS.

With a budget of 2 more guesses, HEARE is an information probe, outside this survivor list. It leaves 1.00 candidates on average under the model. Every feedback identifies a single candidate; another turn may be needed to submit it.

Try this position in the Solver
Sample and method

Every saved board is reachable within a six-turn game. Remaining turns equal six minus the saved history length. The sampling policy is independent of the expected-survivor metric. Two states at each of three depths per opener were selected by a fixed hash from an independent candidate-only sampling policy. Every accepted guess was evaluated. Model answer-model-2026-11-05-9183a914c959, data through 2026-11-05. The score measures expected survivors, not proved solve length or human difficulty.

How this is calculated.

How the solver finds HEARE

The strategy receives only earlier guesses and their feedback. It does not know the answer before choosing a move. Guessing the answer itself on turn one is a lucky one-turn result, not a recommended general strategy.

Normal mode

Our solver: bounded weighted policy. Current-pool replay over 14,855 accepted words. Model through 2026-11-05.

  1. The fixed opener tests its five letters.

    14,855 before → 65 after. This feedback leaves 65 candidates.

    All 65 surviving candidates

    ABORE, ADORE, AFIRE, AFORE, ALURE, AMORE, ARAME, AREAE, AREDE, ARENE, ARERE, ARGLE, ARGUE, ARUHE, ARVEE, AWARE, AYGRE, AZURE, BEARE, BLARE, BRACE, BRAKE, BRAME, BRANE, BRAVE, BRAZE, CHARE, CRAKE, CRAME, CRANE, CRAPE, CRARE, CRAVE, CRAZE, DEARE, DRAKE, DRAPE, DRAVE, FEARE, FLARE, FRAME, FRAPE, GEARE, GLARE, GRACE, GRADE, GRAME, GRAPE, GRAVE, GRAZE, HEARE, IRADE, LEARE, MEARE, OWARE, PEARE, PHARE, QUARE, REAME, REAVE, RIMAE, ROAKE, RUGAE, URARE, WHARE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 414.45. Information: 5.74 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  2. Test GRAZE against the 65 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    65 before → 18 after. This feedback leaves 18 candidates.

    All 18 surviving candidates

    AWARE, BEARE, BLARE, CHARE, DEARE, FEARE, FLARE, HEARE, LEARE, MEARE, OWARE, PEARE, PHARE, QUARE, REAME, REAVE, ROAKE, WHARE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 5.554. Information: 2.432 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  3. Test LEARE against the 18 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    18 before → 6 after. This feedback leaves 6 candidates.

    All 6 surviving candidates

    BEARE, DEARE, FEARE, HEARE, MEARE, PEARE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 4.11. Information: 2.138 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  4. Test DAMES against the 6 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    6 before → 4 after. This feedback leaves 4 candidates.

    All 4 surviving candidates

    BEARE, FEARE, HEARE, PEARE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 3.0. Information: 1.252 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  5. Test BEARE against the 4 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    4 before → 3 after. This feedback leaves 3 candidates.

    All 3 surviving candidates

    FEARE, HEARE, PEARE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 2.5. Information: 0.811 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  6. Test FEARE against the 3 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    3 before → 2 after. This feedback leaves 2 candidates.

    All 2 surviving candidates

    HEARE, PEARE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 1.667. Information: 0.918 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

This policy did not solve within six guesses.

Continue this board in the Solver

Hard Mode

Our solver: bounded weighted policy. Current-pool replay over 14,855 accepted words. Model through 2026-11-05.

  1. The fixed opener tests its five letters.

    14,855 before → 65 after. This feedback leaves 65 candidates.

    All 65 surviving candidates

    ABORE, ADORE, AFIRE, AFORE, ALURE, AMORE, ARAME, AREAE, AREDE, ARENE, ARERE, ARGLE, ARGUE, ARUHE, ARVEE, AWARE, AYGRE, AZURE, BEARE, BLARE, BRACE, BRAKE, BRAME, BRANE, BRAVE, BRAZE, CHARE, CRAKE, CRAME, CRANE, CRAPE, CRARE, CRAVE, CRAZE, DEARE, DRAKE, DRAPE, DRAVE, FEARE, FLARE, FRAME, FRAPE, GEARE, GLARE, GRACE, GRADE, GRAME, GRAPE, GRAVE, GRAZE, HEARE, IRADE, LEARE, MEARE, OWARE, PEARE, PHARE, QUARE, REAME, REAVE, RIMAE, ROAKE, RUGAE, URARE, WHARE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 414.45. Information: 5.74 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  2. Test GRAZE against the 65 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    65 before → 18 after. This feedback leaves 18 candidates.

    All 18 surviving candidates

    AWARE, BEARE, BLARE, CHARE, DEARE, FEARE, FLARE, HEARE, LEARE, MEARE, OWARE, PEARE, PHARE, QUARE, REAME, REAVE, ROAKE, WHARE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 5.554. Information: 2.432 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  3. Test LEARE against the 18 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    18 before → 6 after. This feedback leaves 6 candidates.

    All 6 surviving candidates

    BEARE, DEARE, FEARE, HEARE, MEARE, PEARE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 4.11. Information: 2.138 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  4. Test BEARE against the 6 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    6 before → 5 after. This feedback leaves 5 candidates.

    All 5 surviving candidates

    DEARE, FEARE, HEARE, MEARE, PEARE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 4.333. Information: 0.65 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  5. Test DEARE against the 5 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    5 before → 4 after. This feedback leaves 4 candidates.

    All 4 surviving candidates

    FEARE, HEARE, MEARE, PEARE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 3.4. Information: 0.722 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  6. Test FEARE against the 4 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    4 before → 3 after. This feedback leaves 3 candidates.

    All 3 surviving candidates

    HEARE, MEARE, PEARE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 2.5. Information: 0.811 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

This policy did not solve within six guesses.

Continue this board in the Solver

How the fixed opener panel performs on this answer

OpenerFirst feedbackSurvivorsNormalHard Mode
TARSE01102 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)65Not solved in sixNot solved in six
CRANE01202 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)303Not solved in six
SLATE00202 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)8233
ADIEU10010 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)775Not solved in sixNot solved in six
STARE00222 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)20Not solved in sixNot solved in six
AUDIO10000 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)251344
RAISE11002 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)77Not solved in sixNot solved in six
ROATE10202 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)534Not solved in six
SALET01010 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)35044
Normal mode
1 guess: 0 · 2 guesses: 0 · 3 guesses: 2 · 4 guesses: 3 · 5 guesses: 0 · 6 guesses: 0 · Failed in six: 4
Hard Mode
1 guess: 0 · 2 guesses: 0 · 3 guesses: 1 · 4 guesses: 2 · 5 guesses: 0 · 6 guesses: 0 · Failed in six: 6

The nine openers use the same pool and continuation policy. Across both modes: 3–4 guesses among successes; 10 of 18 configurations failed. This is performance on this answer, not an overall opener ranking.

27 openers set up a two-turn opportunity; examples include THERE, WHERE, THREE, SHARE, HORSE, SHORE, SHEER, SHAVE, HORDE, HERES. After their feedback, this answer is among the most likely survivors with at least half the model probability. This is an opportunity, not a guarantee. An opener that immediately solves is excluded.

Why this answer can be difficult

The answer contains 2 copies of E. Feedback allocates exact matches before misplaced copies; a grey duplicate does not erase another coloured copy.

The worked board still allows 6 different answers at one later decision: BEARE, DEARE, FEARE, HEARE, MEARE, PEARE. These are mechanical alternatives, not a judgement of vocabulary difficulty.

Vocabulary evidence and voluntary player results are reported separately from these solver observations.

Closest competing answers in this board

These words all fit the earlier feedback, rather than merely sharing similar spelling: BEARE, DEARE, FEARE, HEARE, MEARE, PEARE.

A lesson from this route

Before DAMES, 6 words still fit. Its feedback left 4; check the full survivor list before choosing the next answer.

Try another opener or a different move

How this is calculated

The current policy checks all remaining candidates and up to 128 fixed probes. At six or fewer candidates it uses bounded lookahead, preferring modelled six-turn success, then speed among successes. Larger states use expected survivors as a heuristic. These are recommendations, not proofs of optimal play. Hard Mode retains green positions and revealed letter counts; it allows grey letters and a yellow in the same position. Candidate-only play is stricter.

Methods and limitations

Feedback distribution

HEARE can come back 101 different ways. These are the most likely, and how many of the possible answers give each one:

380 answers
237 answers
156 answers
111 answers
109 answers
109 answers
108 answers
87 answers
79 answers
60 answers
56 answers
54 answers
53 answers
44 answers
43 answers
37 answers
35 answers
30 answers
29 answers
26 answers
25 answers
23 answers
22 answers
19 answers
19 answers
19 answers
19 answers
19 answers
18 answers
18 answers

Letter-value totals

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

Scrabble

H4E1A1R1E1
Total: 8 points

Words With Friends

Total: 7 points

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

Strategy after playing HEARE

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

Quick reference

Largest feedback groups after playing HEARE:

16% chance
Suggested:
SOILY
10% chance
Suggested:
TALON
7% chance
Suggested:
DROIT

Follow-ups for common patterns

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

15.9% →
SOILY 5.70 bits
9.9% →
TALON 5.24 bits
6.5% →
DROIT 4.76 bits
4.6% →
INTEL 5.21 bits
4.6% →
SOILY 4.69 bits
4.6% →
TOUCH 5.05 bits
4.5% →
SOILY 3.68 bits
3.6% →
CAROL 4.45 bits
3.3% →
SLANT 4.57 bits
2.5% →
SAULT 4.17 bits

Research on HEARE

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

Optimal play

Opening with HEARE, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.72 guesses and ranks #6,255 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 HEARE can guarantee a solve within six guesses.

Our six-turn simulation says 3.72, at or below the proven-optimal 3.72, 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
HEARE sits in the rare band of the wordfreq scale, appearing less than once per million words in the source corpus. Corpus frequency does not measure every reader’s familiarity.

Sources: Optimal-play values: Alex Selby's exhaustive Wordle analysis (MIT); Word frequency: wordfreq (data CC BY-SA 4.0).