4-letter Wordle solver
Type each 4-letter guess you played and press Add, then tap every tile until it matches your game: grey, yellow or green. The solver checks all 3,903 4-letter words in our dictionary, lists the ones that still fit with everyday words first, and suggests your best next guess.
7 possible words
- barn
- warn
- yarn
- tarn
- carn
- karn
- darn
Best next guess
Words that split the remaining answers into the most groups. Try one of these, or any word from the lists above.
- city
- back
- body
- duty
- debt
- deck
- dick
- dock
Worked example
The solver above opens with a sample game. The hidden word is BARN and we played EARS then LION, the top 4-letter starter and the best follow-up that shares no letters with it.
| Guess | Colours | Words left | Top of the list |
|---|---|---|---|
| ears | ears | 65 | PART, PARK, MARK, DARK, FARM |
| lion | lion | 7 | BARN, WARN, YARN, TARN, CARN |
EARS scored 2 green, 0 yellow and 2 grey, which cut 3,903 words to 65.
LION tested 4 new letters and left 7 words.
The best next guesses are CITY, BACK, BODY, DUTY, which split the remaining 7 words into the most colour groups.
Best 4-letter starting words
These common 4-letter words cover the letters that show up most often in 4-letter words. Start with the first, then follow with a word that uses none of its letters, such as LION.
- ears
- eras
- ares
- sera
- sale
- seal
- east
- seat
Most useful letters in 4-letter words
| Letter | Share of common 4-letter words that contain it |
|---|---|
| A | 38% |
| E | 37% |
| S | 29% |
| O | 27% |
| R | 23% |
| L | 23% |
| T | 22% |
| I | 21% |
How the 4-letter Wordle solver works
Four-letter Wordle feels easy until you are stuck on _ASH with eight options. Four tiles give you less information per guess than five, so families of rhyming words are the main danger.
Type a guess exactly as you played it and press Add, then tap each tile until it shows the same colour as your game: grey (not in the word), yellow (in the word, wrong spot) or green (right spot). The list updates straight away. If your game uses other colours, map them: Lingle, for example, marks the right spot in purple and the wrong spot in gold.
What the solver checks
Our dictionary has 3,903 4-letter words, and 1,871 of them are common in everyday English. For each word, the solver works out the colours your guesses would have shown if that word were the answer, with the same rules the game uses, and keeps only the words that match every row. Common words come first and rare ones are shown faded, since daily games rarely pick obscure answers.
Repeated letters
20% of common 4-letter words use a letter more than once, for example THAT, WERE, BEEN. The game colours copies one at a time: greens first, then yellows from left to right, and any extra copy turns grey. The solver replays exactly that, so a grey second copy correctly means "no more of this letter" rather than "not in the word".
Common endings
The most frequent last two letters in common 4-letter words are -LL (44 words), -CK (40 words), -NE (38 words). About 15% end in S. Four-letter answers tend to be everyday words, so start with the common words at the top of the list. Endings like -LL and -CK are common, and both use a repeated or paired letter.
Strategy
Spend guess two on four fresh letters even if guess one found something. Most four-letter words have one or two vowels, so two guesses that cover A, E, I and O usually pin down the vowel.
Our word list is the public-domain ENABLE list (172,823 words). It is close to, but not the same as, the lists that 4-letter Wordle games use, so the solver may list a word your game rejects, or miss a newer word it accepts.
Other word lengths
Frequently asked questions
What is the best first word for 4-letter Wordle?
By letter coverage across common 4-letter words, EARS scores highest, followed by ERAS, ARES, SERA. A good second word with no shared letters is LION.
How many 4-letter words are there?
Our dictionary lists 3,903 4-letter words, of which 1,871 are common. You can browse them all on the 4-letter words page.
Why does the solver show no words?
A tile is probably set to the wrong colour. Check letters you typed twice: the second copy can be grey even when the letter is in the word. Also make sure each guess has exactly 4 letters.
Which games does it work with?
Any game that uses 4-letter words and Wordle-style feedback (right spot, wrong spot, not in word), whatever the colours. For the classic five-letter game, use the Wordle solver.