LIKEN
Yes, LIKEN was the Wordle answer on May 6, 2026 (Wordle #1782).
As an opener, it rules out about 93.4% of possible answers.
Meaning and pronunciation
Pronunciation: /ˈlaɪk(ə)n//ˈlaɪkən/
- Verb
-
Followed by to or (archaic) unto: to regard or state that (someone or something) is like another person or thing; to compare.
“The physics teacher likened the effect of mass on space to an indentation in a sheet of rubber.”
- Verb
-
Chiefly followed by to: to make (oneself, someone, or something) resemble another person or thing.
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 oncePast Wordle answer: May 6, 2026 (#1782).
See the full page for that puzzle: May 6, 2026 (#1782).
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 LIKEN performs as a guess
LIKEN 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 83.4% of games, misses completely in 16.6%, and leaves about 156 possible answers on average.
In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #6,808 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.70 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 LIKEN 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 LIKEN 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 LIKEN in 4 guesses.
Feedback distribution
LIKEN can come back 93 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 LIKEN; 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 LIKEN
What the solver recommends next for each way the board can respond to LIKEN.
Quick reference
Largest feedback groups after playing LIKEN:
Research on LIKEN
Game-tree analysis and word research for LIKEN, with an explanation for each figure.
Optimal play
Opening with LIKEN, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.69 guesses and ranks #4,026 of 14,855 legal openers. The best proven opener, TARSE, averages 3.55.
In hard mode it averages 3.83 guesses at best and is rank #2,184 of the 7,453 openers that can still guarantee a solve within six guesses.
Our six-turn simulation says 3.70; proven optimal play reaches 3.69. The fixed strategy accounts for the difference.
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.
How it sounds
Two syllables, stress on the first syllable Say it LYKUHN.
Related meanings
In WordNet's sense inventory, LIKEN is a kind of study.
Synonyms compare equate
Familiarity and learning
- Frequency
- LIKEN sits in the advanced band of the wordfreq scale, appearing less than once per million words of written English; the band marks it as an uncommon word many players still recognize.
In a sentence
We often liken death to sleep.
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).