Wordle Starting Words Explorer
Find the perfect opener for your next game. This explorer crunches the entire Wordle dictionary, scores each word by how much of the alphabet it covers, how balanced the vowels are, and how safely it avoids repeat letters. Adjust the filters to match your strategy and watch the rankings update instantly.
Loading word statistics…
Top 5 Starting Words
Here are the highest-scoring openers using the default balanced scoring. They all provide strong letter coverage without any extra clicks from you.
Ranked Starting Words
The table combines per-letter frequency, uniqueness, and vowel balance into a composite score. Click a column header to sort in ascending or descending order.
| # | Word | Composite Score | Coverage | Vowels | Unique Letters |
|---|
Visualize Your Options
The quick chart below highlights the top performers under your current settings so you can spot high-scoring outliers at a glance.
Why These Starters Shine
Curious why the top picks float to the top? The examples below break down the letter coverage and vowel mix of a few standout choices.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I sort the starting words table?
Click or keyboard-activate any column header to toggle the sort direction. Each tap flips between ascending and descending so you can quickly reorder by word, composite score, coverage, vowels, or unique letters.
What powers the composite score?
The score blends letter frequency coverage, vowel balance, and duplicate penalties. When you toggle "Boost vowel-rich words" or "Penalize duplicate letters," the weighting recalculates instantly to reflect your preferences.
Can I filter for unique-letter openers?
Yes. Choose "Only unique-letter words" from the filter dropdown or leave the duplicate penalty on to favor distinct-letter openers while still seeing every five-letter option in the list.
How often is the data updated?
The rankings are calculated in your browser using the current NYT Wordle answer list bundled with the site. Each visit recomputes scores locally, so you always see fresh results when the word list changes.