5 FiveLetterWords
Past Wordle answer Possible answer Accepted guess C tier opener

SMIRK

Yes, SMIRK was the Wordle answer on October 21, 2023 (Wordle #854).

As an opener, it rules out about 91.1% of possible answers.

Open Solver with SMIRK Open Word Finder

Meaning and pronunciation

Pronunciation: /smɜːk//smɝk/

Noun

An uneven, often crooked smile that is insolent, self-satisfied, conceited or scornful.

Noun

A forced or affected smile.

Verb

To smile in a way that is affected, smug, insolent or contemptuous.

Adjective

smart; spruce; affected; simpering

Alternative forms: smerk, smirke

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: October 21, 2023 (#854).

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

Wordle Observatory

How did this puzzle feel?

About the project

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

We send only this answer word for puzzle verification, the puzzle number, result, difficulty vote, Hard Mode flag, timezone and a random one-puzzle receipt token. The Observatory stores no answer word, grid, guesses, account, email, IP-derived ID or reusable player identifier. The puzzle-specific receipt prevents duplicate submissions and permits withdrawal; anyone with that token can withdraw, so keep browser-data exports private. See the privacy details.

How SMIRK performs as a guess

SMIRK 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 78.5% of games, misses completely in 21.5%, and leaves about 210 possible answers on average.

In the previous complete v5 benchmark, it ranks #5,327 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.

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

Useful pattern pages

If you only know part of the word, start with one of these matching patterns.

S___K S in the 1st position and K in the 5th position S__R_ S in the 1st position and R in the 4th position _M__K M in the 2nd position and K in the 5th position

Try next

OLATE POTAE TILDE LEANT HAOLE THALE
Words starting with S Words ending with K

First-turn measures

4.43 Entropy (bits)
210 Avg remaining
0.04% Exact match
91.1% Avg ruled out
Higher first-turn entropy than about 47% of evaluated openers
1.52 bits below the highest measured first-turn entropy (~5.95 bits)

As an opener: v5 benchmark

How SMIRK 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.

3.68 Avg guesses
99.9% Win rate
0.70 Volatility
#5,327 v5 opener rank
In the complete v5 snapshot, SMIRK ranks #5,327 of 14,855 openers by average guesses in games solved within six.
1 guess
1
2 guesses
54
3 guesses
899
4 guesses
1,165
5 guesses
220
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
1 vowels
Common:
IRS

Feedback chances

Any hit (G/Y)
78%
Green tile
32%
All gray
22%

Example solver route

R O A T E
S L I C K
S H I R K
S M I R K

One example route used by the solver.

This solver benchmark reaches SMIRK in 4 guesses.

Feedback distribution

89 possible patterns. Top outcomes:

508
341
184
146
121
112
96
82
74
55
47
45
40
38
34
32
31
30
25
25
21
20
15
12
11
11
11
10
10
9

Quick reference

Largest feedback groups after playing SMIRK:

22% chance
Suggested:
OLATE
14% chance
Suggested:
POTAE
8% chance
Suggested:
TILDE

Follow-ups for common patterns

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

21.5% →
OLATE 5.98 bits
14.5% →
POTAE 5.34 bits
7.8% →
TILDE 5.13 bits
6.2% →
LEANT 5.33 bits
5.1% →
OLATE 5.35 bits
4.7% →
HAOLE 4.99 bits
4.1% →
THALE 4.91 bits
3.5% →
DIANE 4.44 bits
3.1% →
COATE 4.88 bits
2.3% →
COATE 4.67 bits

Letter-value totals

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

Scrabble

S1M3I1R1K5
Total: 11 points

Words With Friends

Total: 12 points

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