PUNCH
PUNCH is on the solver's possible-answer list and has no appearance in our globally completed Wordle history.
Meaning and pronunciation
Pronunciation: /pʌnt͡ʃ//pʌnʃ/
- Noun
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A hit or strike with one's fist.
- Noun
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Power, strength, energy.
“The tornado is finally losing its punch.”
- Verb
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To strike with one's fist.
“If she punches me, I'm gonna break her nose.”
- Verb
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To herd.
Alternative forms: punce, pince
Source: Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0. Corrections.
Etymology
From Middle English punchen, partially from Old French ponchonner (“to punch”), from ponchon (“pointed tool”), from Latin punctio, from punctus, perfect passive participle of pungō (“I prick”); and partially from Middle English punchen, a syncopated variant of punischen ("to punish"; see punish). Also influenced by Middle English punchon ("a punch"; see puncheon). Compare also Middle English bunchen, bonchen (“to punch, deliver a blow, pound, beat”).
Source: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA)
How it sounds
One syllable Say it PUHNCH.
Rhymes with LUNCH BUNCH MUNCH HUNCH
Related meanings
Synonyms plug lick poke slug CLOUT
In a sentence
I want to punch you.
I want to punch him.
Use PUNCH in a puzzle
As an opener, it rules out about 86.3% 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
No completed appearanceNo 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.
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See what the public sample says →PUNCH in Connections
8 recorded appearances in completed main-edition puzzles through . Showing the 5 most recent. A category label alone does not establish a word's meaning.
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· Puzzle #1093
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PUNCH appeared in THINGS THAT CAN BE SPIKED (blue group).
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· Puzzle #1046
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PUNCH appeared in WALLOP (green group).
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· Puzzle #817
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PUNCH appeared in PIQUANCY (yellow group).
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· Puzzle #788
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PUNCH appeared in PERFORATE (green group).
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· Puzzle #616
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PUNCH appeared in FAMOUS PUPPETS (blue group).
How PUNCH performs as a guess
PUNCH 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 66.7% of games, misses completely in 33.3%, and leaves about 326 possible answers on average.
In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #5,572 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.68 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 PUNCH 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 PUNCH 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 PUNCH in 5 guesses. See the trap-family guide for similar endgames.
Feedback distribution
PUNCH 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 PUNCH; 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 PUNCH
What the solver recommends next for each way the board can respond to PUNCH.
Quick reference
Largest feedback groups after playing PUNCH:
Research on PUNCH
Game-tree analysis and word research for PUNCH, with an explanation for each figure.
Optimal play
Opening with PUNCH, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.73 guesses and ranks #6,770 of 14,855 legal openers. The best proven opener, TARSE, averages 3.55.
In hard mode it averages 3.84 guesses at best and is rank #2,385 of the 7,453 openers that can still guarantee a solve within six guesses.
Our six-turn simulation says 3.68, at or below the proven-optimal 3.73, 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
- PUNCH sits in the common band of the wordfreq scale, appearing about 21 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 B2); a word learners usually reach after the basics.
- Age of acquisition
- Typically learned around age 7, by Glasgow Norms speaker ratings.
- Imageability
- Imageability score: 78 of 100. Raters found it easy 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).