SCOUR
Yes, SCOUR was the Wordle answer on May 18, 2022 (Wordle #333).
As an opener, it rules out about 93.7% of possible answers.
Meaning and pronunciation
Pronunciation: /ˈskaʊə//ˈskaʊɚ//skaʊɹ/
- Verb
-
To clean, polish, or wash (something) by rubbing and scrubbing it vigorously, frequently with an abrasive or cleaning agent.
“He scoured the burnt food from the pan.”
- Verb
-
To remove debris and dirt (from something) by purging; to sweep along or off by a current of water.
- Noun
-
The removal of sediment caused by swiftly moving water.
“Bridge scour may scoop out scour holes and compromise the integrity of the structure.”
- Noun
-
A place scoured out by running water, as in the bed of a stream below a waterfall.
Alternative forms: scower
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
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: May 18, 2022 (#333).
See the full page for that puzzle: May 18, 2022 (#333).
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 SCOUR performs as a guess
SCOUR 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 82.2% of games, misses completely in 17.8%, and leaves about 149 possible answers on average.
In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #2,239 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.
Useful pattern pages
If you only know part of the word, start with one of these matching patterns.
First-turn measures
All four describe SCOUR 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 SCOUR 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 SCOUR in 4 guesses.
Feedback distribution
SCOUR can come back 105 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 SCOUR; 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 SCOUR
What the solver recommends next for each way the board can respond to SCOUR.
Quick reference
Largest feedback groups after playing SCOUR:
Research on SCOUR
Game-tree analysis and word research for SCOUR, with an explanation for each figure.
Optimal play
Opening with SCOUR, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.68 guesses and ranks #3,173 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 SCOUR can guarantee a solve within six guesses.
Our six-turn simulation says 3.62, at or below the proven-optimal 3.68, 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 SKOWUR.
Related meanings
In WordNet's sense inventory, SCOUR is a kind of place or search.
Familiarity and learning
- Frequency
- SCOUR sits in the advanced band of the wordfreq scale, appearing about once per million words of written English; the band marks it as an uncommon word many players still recognize.
- Dominant sense
- Lancaster raters associated it most strongly with sight (3.4 of 5).
In a sentence
I need to scour the city.
How will I scour with a fork?
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); Lancaster Sensorimotor Norms (CC BY 4.0).