OFTEN
Yes, OFTEN was the Wordle answer on February 26, 2024 (Wordle #982).
Meaning and pronunciation
Pronunciation: /ˈɒfən//ˈɒftən//ˈɔːfən/
- Adverb
-
Frequently; many times on different occasions.
“I often walk to work when the weather is nice.”
- Adjective
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Frequent.
Source: Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0. Corrections.
Etymology
From Middle English often, alteration (with final -n added due to analogy with Middle English selden (“seldom”)) of Middle English ofte, oft, from Old English oft (“often”), from Proto-Germanic *ufta, *uftō (“often”).
Source: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA)
How it sounds
Two syllables, stress on the first syllable Say it AWFUHN.
Related meanings
Synonyms much frequently oft oftentimes
Opposites rarely
In a sentence
I think of you often.
I often think of you.
Use OFTEN in a puzzle
As an opener, it rules out about 93.4% 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: February 26, 2024 (#982).
See the full page for that puzzle: February 26, 2024 (#982).
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 →OFTEN 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 #393
Reveal this appearance's category
OFTEN appeared in WORDS ENDING IN NUMBERS (purple group).
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· Puzzle #191
Reveal this appearance's category
OFTEN appeared in TWO LETTERS + NUMBER (purple group).
How OFTEN performs as a guess
OFTEN 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 84.5% of games, misses completely in 15.5%, and leaves about 157 possible answers on average.
In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #7,019 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 OFTEN 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 OFTEN 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 OFTEN in 3 guesses.
Feedback distribution
OFTEN 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 OFTEN; 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 OFTEN
What the solver recommends next for each way the board can respond to OFTEN.
Quick reference
Largest feedback groups after playing OFTEN:
Research on OFTEN
Game-tree analysis and word research for OFTEN, with an explanation for each figure.
Optimal play
Opening with OFTEN, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.69 guesses and ranks #4,251 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 OFTEN can 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.
Familiarity and learning
- Frequency
- OFTEN sits in the common band of the wordfreq scale, appearing about 257 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 A1); among the first words English learners study.
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.