Past Wordle answer Possible answer Accepted guess B tier opener

SMEAR

Yes, SMEAR was the Wordle answer on August 7, 2022 (Wordle #414).

As an opener, it rules out about 95.6% of possible answers.

Meaning and pronunciation

Pronunciation: /smɪə(ɹ)//smiɚ//smɪɚ/

Verb

To spread (a substance, especially one that colours or is dirty) across a surface by rubbing.

“The artist smeared paint over the canvas in broad strokes.”

Verb

To cover (a surface with a layer of some substance) by rubbing.

“She smeared her lips with lipstick.”

Noun

A mark made by smearing.

“This detergent cleans windows without leaving smears.”

Noun

A false or unsupported, malicious statement intended to injure a person's reputation.

“smear campaign”

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

Yes

Included in the Wordle guess list used by our tools.

Possible answer

Yes

Included among the answers considered by the solver.

Past Wordle answer

Used once

Past Wordle answer: August 7, 2022 (#414).

The possible-answer list is the solver's current list and may change when Wordle adds new answers.

Wordle Observatory

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About the project

Add an anonymous result and difficulty rating to the public, aggregate research dataset.

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How SMEAR performs as a guess

SMEAR is a possible answer, so it would solve about one game in 2,358 when every answer is treated as equally likely.

Played as an opener, it lands at least one colored tile in 88.3% of games, misses completely in 11.7%, and leaves about 103 possible answers on average.

In the previous complete v5 benchmark, it ranks #2,447 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.63 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.

All gray? Tap a tile to cycle gray → yellow → green.

First-turn measures

5.32 Entropy (bits)
103 Avg remaining
0.04% Exact match
95.6% Avg ruled out
Higher first-turn entropy than about 95% of evaluated openers
0.63 bits below the highest measured first-turn entropy (~5.95 bits)

As an opener: v5 benchmark

How SMEAR 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.

3.63 Avg guesses
99.9% Win rate
0.71 Volatility
#2,447 v5 opener rank
In the complete v5 snapshot, SMEAR ranks #2,447 of 14,855 openers by average guesses in games solved within six.
1 guess
1
2 guesses
84
3 guesses
925
4 guesses
1,134
5 guesses
194
6 guesses
13
Top-ranked in the current bounded policy screen: SLANT. The policy minimizes misses within six first, then average guesses among wins (3.45 for the leader). Compare the ranking measures

Composition

5/5 unique
2 vowels
Common:
AERS

Feedback chances

Any hit (G/Y)
88%
Green tile
34%
All gray
12%

Example solver route

R O A T E
G L E A M
S M E A R

One example route used by the solver.

This solver benchmark reaches SMEAR in 3 guesses.

Feedback distribution

119 possible patterns. Top outcomes:

275
205
171
132
109
102
100
97
86
60
51
49
44
42
39
37
35
34
34
30
29
29
28
26
25
25
23
19
18
17

Quick reference

Largest feedback groups after playing SMEAR:

12% chance
Suggested:
COUNT
9% chance
Suggested:
TOILE
7% chance
Suggested:
TALON

Follow-ups for common patterns

Ranked follow-up guesses for the 10 most common feedback patterns.

11.7%
COUNT 5.65 bits
8.7%
TOILE 5.43 bits
7.3%
TALON 5.06 bits
5.6%
DROIT 4.85 bits
4.6%
ALATE 4.63 bits
4.3%
PORTE 4.40 bits
4.2%
STINK 4.43 bits
4.1%
TRAIN 4.19 bits
3.6%
TOILE 3.45 bits
2.5%
MOULT 4.54 bits

Letter-value totals

Base letter-value totals for SMEAR; these do not show whether either game accepts the word.

Scrabble

S1M3E1A1R1
Total: 7 points

Words With Friends

Total: 8 points

Scores shown are base values without double/triple letter or word bonuses.