REFER
Yes, REFER was the Wordle answer on July 19, 2024 (Wordle #1126).
Meaning and pronunciation
Pronunciation: /ɹɪˈfɜː//ɹɪˈfɝ//ɹɪˈfɛr/
- Verb
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To direct the attention of (someone toward something).
“The shop assistant referred me to the help desk on ground floor.”
- Verb
-
To submit to (another person or group) for consideration; to send or direct elsewhere.
“He referred the matter to the principal.”
- Noun
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A blurb on the front page of a newspaper issue or section that refers the reader to the full story inside the issue or section by listing its slug or headline and its page number.
Source: Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0. Corrections.
Etymology
From Middle English referren, from Old French referer, from Latin referre. The noun (used in journalism) is from the verb. Doublet of relate. See also infer, collate and confer, delate and defer, as well as prelate and prefer among others.
Source: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA)
How it sounds
Two syllables, stress on the second syllable Say it RUHFUR.
Rhymes with OCCUR INTER DETER INCUR DEFER
Related meanings
Synonyms name TOUCH mention concern relate consult
In a sentence
Do you refer to me?
What does that refer to?
Use REFER in a puzzle
As an opener, it rules out about 84.8% 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: July 19, 2024 (#1126).
See the full page for that puzzle: July 19, 2024 (#1126).
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 →REFER 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 #1001
Reveal this appearance's category
REFER appeared in PALINDROMES (green group).
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· Puzzle #460
Reveal this appearance's category
REFER appeared in PALINDROMES FEATURING “E” (green group).
How REFER performs as a guess
REFER 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 66.9% of games, misses completely in 33.1%, and leaves about 362 possible answers on average.
In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #12,984 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.84 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 REFER 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 REFER 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 REFER in 3 guesses.
Feedback distribution
REFER can come back 68 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 REFER; 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 REFER
What the solver recommends next for each way the board can respond to REFER.
Quick reference
Largest feedback groups after playing REFER:
Research on REFER
Game-tree analysis and word research for REFER, with an explanation for each figure.
Optimal play
Opening with REFER, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.86 guesses and ranks #13,062 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 REFER can guarantee a solve within six guesses.
Our six-turn simulation says 3.84, at or below the proven-optimal 3.86, 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
- REFER sits in the common band of the wordfreq scale, appearing about 28 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 A2); among the first words English learners study.
- Dominant sense
- Lancaster raters associated it most strongly with sound (2.9 of 5).
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; Lancaster Sensorimotor Norms (CC BY 4.0).