5 FiveLetterWords
Past Wordle answer Possible answer Accepted guess C tier for first-turn info

MODAL

Yes, MODAL was the Wordle answer on July 17, 2025 (Wordle #1489).

As an opener, it rules out about 92.4% of possible answers.

Open Solver with MODAL Open Word Finder

Meaning and pronunciation

Pronunciation: /ˈməʊdəl//ˈmoʊdəl//ˈməʉdəl/

Adjective

Of, or relating to a mode or modus.

Adjective

Of, relating to, or describing the mood of a clause.

Noun

A modal (etymology 1, adjective sense 4) proposition.

Noun

A modal (etymology 1, adjective sense 2) form, notably a modal auxiliary.

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

Yes

Included in the Wordle guess list used by our tools.

Possible answer

Yes

Included among the answers considered by the solver.

Past Wordle answer

Used once

Past Wordle answer: July 17, 2025 (#1489).

See the full page for that puzzle: July 17, 2025 (#1489).

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

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How MODAL performs as a guess

MODAL 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 80.7% of games, misses completely in 19.3%, and leaves about 181 possible answers on average.

In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #2,234 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.62 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.
See strategy patterns

Useful pattern pages

If you only know part of the word, start with one of these matching patterns.

M___L M in the 1st position and L in the 5th position M__A_ M in the 1st position and A in the 4th position _O__L O in the 2nd position and L in the 5th position

Explore lists that match the beginning, ending or letters in MODAL.

First-turn measures

All four describe MODAL 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.

4.74 Entropy (bits)
181 Avg remaining
0.04% Exact match
92.4% Avg ruled out
Higher first-turn entropy than about 68% of evaluated openers
1.21 bits below the highest measured first-turn entropy (~5.95 bits)

As an opening guess: previous benchmark

How MODAL 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.

3.62 Avg guesses
99.96% Solved within six
0.69 Spread of game lengths
#2,234 Rank among openers
Opening with MODAL left 1 of the snapshot's answers unsolved after six guesses. A spread of 0.69 means those games clustered within about 0.69 of a guess of the 3.62 average. It ranks #2,234 of 14,855 openers by average guesses in games solved within six.
1 guess
1
2 guesses
76
3 guesses
920
4 guesses
1,176
5 guesses
170
6 guesses
10
Top-ranked in the current bounded policy screen: SLANT. The policy minimizes misses within six first, then average guesses among wins (3.46 for the leader). Compare the ranking measures

Composition

5/5 unique
2 vowels
Common:
ALO

Feedback chances

Any hit (G/Y)
81%
Green tile
28%
All gray
19%

Example solver route

R O A T E
L U C I D
M O D A L

One example route used by the solver.

This solver benchmark reaches MODAL in 3 guesses.

Feedback distribution

MODAL can come back 107 different ways. These are the most likely, and how many of the possible answers give each one:

459 answers
327 answers
165 answers
151 answers
128 answers
118 answers
85 answers
53 answers
53 answers
49 answers
48 answers
44 answers
37 answers
36 answers
31 answers
31 answers
29 answers
29 answers
27 answers
26 answers
26 answers
25 answers
25 answers
23 answers
20 answers
19 answers
19 answers
17 answers
14 answers
13 answers

Letter-value totals

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

Scrabble

M3O1D2A1L1
Total: 8 points

Words With Friends

Total: 10 points

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

Try next

SIENT TARSE TRINE SLICE CRUET STALE

Strategy after playing MODAL

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

Quick reference

Largest feedback groups after playing MODAL:

19% chance
Suggested:
SIENT
14% chance
Suggested:
TARSE
7% chance
Suggested:
TRINE

Follow-ups for common patterns

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

19.3% →
SIENT 6.28 bits
13.8% →
TARSE 5.71 bits
7.0% →
TRINE 5.36 bits
6.4% →
SLICE 5.10 bits
5.4% →
CRUET 4.86 bits
5.0% →
STALE 4.88 bits
3.6% →
TRINE 5.14 bits
2.2% →
TRINE 4.43 bits
2.2% →
BARON 4.77 bits
2.1% →
SETER 4.34 bits

Research on MODAL

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

Optimal play

Opening with MODAL, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.66 guesses and ranks #2,404 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 MODAL can guarantee a solve within six guesses.

Our six-turn simulation says 3.62, at or below the proven-optimal 3.66, 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.

How it sounds

Two syllables, stress on the first syllable Say it MOHDUHL.

Rhymes with YODEL BODLE

Related meanings

In WordNet's sense inventory, MODAL is a kind of verb.

Synonyms average normal

Opposites abnormal

Familiarity and learning

Frequency
MODAL sits in the intermediate band of the wordfreq scale, appearing about once per million words of written English; the band marks it as a word most readers meet regularly.
Learner level
Appears in intermediate learner vocabulary (CEFR-J level B1); a word learners usually reach after the basics.

In a sentence

Most foreigners will never fully master the use of German modal particles.
© tatoeba.org contributor shekitten (CC BY 2.0 FR)

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.