PROVE
Yes, PROVE has been the Wordle answer on November 29, 2021 (Wordle #163) and October 7, 2026 (Wordle #1936).
Meaning and pronunciation
Pronunciation: /ˈpɹuːv/[ˈpʰɹʷʊu̯v]/pɹəʊv/
- Verb
-
To demonstrate that something is true or viable; to give proof for; to bear out; to testify.
“I will prove that my method is more effective than yours.”
- Verb
-
To turn out; to manifest.
“It proved to be a cold day.”
- Noun
-
The process of dough proofing.
Alternative forms: proove
Source: Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0. Corrections.
Etymology
From Middle English proven, from Old English prōfian (“to esteem, regard as, evince, try, prove”) and Old French prover (“to prove”), both from Latin probō (“test, try, examine, approve, show to be good or fit, prove”, verb), from probus (“good, worthy, excellent”), from Proto-Indo-European *pro-bʰuH-s (“being in front, prominent”), from *pro-, *per- (“toward”) + *bʰuH- (“to be”). Displaced native Middle English sothen (“to prove”), from Old English sōþian (“to prove”). Doublet of probe.
Source: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA)
How it sounds
One syllable Say it PROOV.
Rhymes with VEUVE
Related meanings
Synonyms show try test evidence rise RAISE
In a sentence
I can prove it to you.
How can I prove it?
Use PROVE in a puzzle
As an opener, it rules out about 93.1% 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 2 timesPast Wordle answer: November 29, 2021 (#163); October 7, 2026 (#1936).
See the full page for each puzzle: November 29, 2021 (#163); October 7, 2026 (#1936).
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 PROVE performs as a guess
PROVE 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 81.3% of games, misses completely in 18.7%, and leaves about 164 possible answers on average.
In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #4,678 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.66 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 PROVE 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 PROVE 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 PROVE in 4 guesses.
Feedback distribution
PROVE can come back 99 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 PROVE; 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 PROVE
What the solver recommends next for each way the board can respond to PROVE.
Quick reference
Largest feedback groups after playing PROVE:
Research on PROVE
Game-tree analysis and word research for PROVE, with an explanation for each figure.
Optimal play
Opening with PROVE, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.70 guesses and ranks #4,654 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 #2,343 of the 7,453 openers that can still guarantee a solve within six guesses.
Our six-turn simulation says 3.66, at or below the proven-optimal 3.70, 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
- PROVE sits in the common band of the wordfreq scale, appearing about 59 times per million words of written English; the band marks it as an everyday word almost every player will know.
- Learner level
- Appears in intermediate learner vocabulary (CEFR-J level B1); a word learners usually reach after the basics.
- Age of acquisition
- Typically learned around age 8, by Glasgow Norms speaker ratings.
- Imageability
- Imageability score: 24 of 100. Raters found it difficult to picture.
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; Glasgow Norms (CC BY 4.0).