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Best Wordle Starting Words
Your opening guess is the most important move in Wordle. A good starting word covers the most common letters in one go, giving you the best shot at solving in 3–4 guesses. Below are the top 30 starting words ranked by vowel coverage and common-letter frequency.
The top 10 most common letters in Wordle
These letters appear in the most Wordle answers. A good starting word should cover as many of these as possible.
Top 30 starting words ranked
Each word is scored by how many vowels it contains and how many top-frequency consonants it uses. Words that reuse the same letter score lower because they test fewer unique letters.
| Rank | Word | Score | Unique letters | Vowels | Past answer? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AULOI | 16 | 5/5 | 4 | No |
| 2 | AUREI | 16 | 5/5 | 4 | No |
| 3 | LOUIE | 16 | 5/5 | 4 | No |
| 4 | OURIE | 16 | 5/5 | 4 | No |
| 5 | URAEI | 16 | 5/5 | 4 | No |
| 6 | AUDIO | 15 | 5/5 | 4 | ✓ Yes |
| 7 | ADIEU | 15 | 5/5 | 4 | No |
| 8 | MIAOU | 15 | 5/5 | 4 | No |
| 9 | OUIJA | 15 | 5/5 | 4 | No |
| 10 | AISLE | 14 | 5/5 | 3 | ✓ Yes |
| 11 | ALIEN | 14 | 5/5 | 3 | ✓ Yes |
| 12 | ALONE | 14 | 5/5 | 3 | ✓ Yes |
| 13 | ARISE | 14 | 5/5 | 3 | ✓ Yes |
| 14 | AROSE | 14 | 5/5 | 3 | ✓ Yes |
| 15 | ATONE | 14 | 5/5 | 3 | ✓ Yes |
| 16 | CANOE | 14 | 5/5 | 3 | ✓ Yes |
| 17 | IRATE | 14 | 5/5 | 3 | ✓ Yes |
| 18 | NOISE | 14 | 5/5 | 3 | ✓ Yes |
| 19 | OCEAN | 14 | 5/5 | 3 | ✓ Yes |
| 20 | RAISE | 14 | 5/5 | 3 | ✓ Yes |
| 21 | RATIO | 14 | 5/5 | 3 | ✓ Yes |
| 22 | AEONS | 14 | 5/5 | 3 | No |
| 23 | AEROS | 14 | 5/5 | 3 | No |
| 24 | AESIR | 14 | 5/5 | 3 | No |
| 25 | ALINE | 14 | 5/5 | 3 | No |
| 26 | ALOES | 14 | 5/5 | 3 | No |
| 27 | ALOIN | 14 | 5/5 | 3 | No |
| 28 | ANILE | 14 | 5/5 | 3 | No |
| 29 | ANISE | 14 | 5/5 | 3 | No |
| 30 | ANOLE | 14 | 5/5 | 3 | No |
Why these words work
The best opening words share two properties: they use multiple vowels (A, E, I, O, U) and they cover high-frequency consonants like R, S, T, L, N, and C. A word like CRANE or SLATE tests 3 vowels and 2 common consonants in a single guess, which often eliminates half the dictionary right away.
Avoid starting words with repeated letters (e.g. SPOONuses O twice and P once — you only learn about 3 unique letters). Every slot should test new information.
Try it with the clue helper
Once you’ve played your opening guess, come back to Wordle Clue Helper and enter the results. The tool will show you every remaining word that fits your clues in real time. You can also browse all Wordle words by starting or ending letter to plan your strategy.