5 Letter Words With Q, Z, X and J: Rare Letters in Wordle
Some Wordle days are easy because the answer is full of common letters like E, A and R. Other days, the answer hides a Q, a J, an X or a Z, and nobody thinks to guess it. These four letters are the rarest in Wordle answers, but they follow clear patterns. Once you know where they tend to appear, they are much easier to find.
How rare are Q, J, X and Z?
We counted every letter in the 2,120 words in our list that are most likely to be Wordle answers. Q, J, X and Z came last, in that order:
- Q: 23 likely answers
- J: 27 likely answers
- X: 31 likely answers
- Z: 36 likely answers
For comparison, E appears in 948 likely answers, about 41 times as many as Q. Altogether, only 116 of 2,120 answers (5.5%) use any of the four rare letters. That’s about one Wordle answer in 18. The next rarest letters, V and W, already appear in 136 and 169 answers. See the full ranking in our guide to the most common letters in 5 letter words.
5 letter words with Q
Q is the rarest letter of all, and the most predictable. In every likely answer in our list, Q is followed by U. Q is also almost always the first letter: 19 of the 23 words start with it.
Common 5 letter words with Q: QUACK, QUAIL, QUAKE, QUARK, QUART, QUEEN, QUELL, QUERY, QUEST, QUEUE, QUICK, QUIET, QUILL, QUILT, QUIRK, QUITE, QUOTA, QUOTE, SQUAD, SQUAT, SQUID, EQUAL.
There are a few five-letter words with Q and no U, such as QANAT, QAIDS and FAQIR. They are valid in Scrabble, but they are very unlikely to be Wordle answers.
Tip: if U comes back grey, you can almost certainly rule out Q too.
5 letter words with J
J usually comes first. 17 of the 27 likely answers with J start with it, and none of them end in J.
Starting with J: JAZZY, JELLY, JERKY, JETTY, JEWEL, JIFFY, JIMMY, JOINT, JOKER, JOLLY, JOUST, JUDGE, JUICE, JUICY, JUMBO, JUMPY, JUROR.
J in the middle: MAJOR, ENJOY, EJECT, NINJA, BANJO, BIJOU, FJORD, KANJI, GANJA, DJINN.
Tip: J pairs with vowels. Most J words have U, O or E right after the J, as in JUICE, JOINT and JEWEL.
5 letter words with X
X is different from the other rare letters. It hardly ever starts a word. In our list, XEROX is the only likely answer that begins with X. Instead, X sits in the middle or at the end.
X in the middle: EXACT, EXCEL, EXERT, EXILE, EXIST, EXPEL, EXTRA, BOXER, FIXER, MIXER, MAXIM, NEXUS, OXIDE, PIXIE, PROXY, SIXTH, SIXTY, TAXIS, TOXIC, TOXIN, VIXEN.
X at the end: ANNEX, CODEX, DETOX, HELIX, INDEX, LATEX, PHLOX, RELAX, REMIX.
Tip: watch for EX at the start (EXACT, EXTRA) and -EX or -OX at the end (INDEX, DETOX).
5 letter words with Z
Z is the most common of the four, and it has a favourite spot: the fourth letter, in 21 of the 36 likely answers. That’s because so many Z words end in -ZE or -ZY.
Ending in -ZE: AMAZE, BLAZE, BOOZE, CRAZE, FROZE, GAUZE, GLAZE, GRAZE, MAIZE, PRIZE, SEIZE.
Ending in -ZY: CRAZY, DIZZY, DOOZY, FIZZY, FUZZY, JAZZY, WOOZY.
Other Z words: ZEBRA, ZILCH, ZIPPY, DOZEN, HAZEL, OZONE, PIZZA, PLAZA, RAZOR, GIZMO, TOPAZ, WALTZ, BLITZ, HERTZ, KLUTZ, UNZIP.
Tip: Z often comes in pairs. DIZZY, FIZZY, FUZZY, JAZZY and PIZZA all use a double Z, so a single yellow Z might be hiding a second one. JAZZY is the only likely answer that uses two different rare letters (J and Z).
When should you guess a rare letter?
Almost never in your first two guesses. With only one answer in 18 using Q, J, X or Z, an opener that tests one of them wastes a slot that a common letter like R, T or S would use far better. Our guide to the best Wordle starting words explains why.
Rare letters become worth guessing when:
- The common letters run out. If most of E, A, R, O, T, I, S, L and N are grey and the list is still long, the answer is more likely to use a rare letter.
- A pattern points to one. Clues like _ _ A Z E, _ U I _ _ or E _ _ _ _ match rare-letter words. Enter them into our 5 letter word finder and check which words still fit.
- You have a U but no idea where it goes. U is common in Q words. If U is yellow and Q hasn’t been tested, QUIET or QUOTE might be a good check.
To see every word with a letter, use Containing in the quick search, for example 5 letter words containing Z. You can also browse 5 letter words starting with Q and 5 letter words starting with J.
Rare letters in Scrabble
The same letters are gold in Scrabble. Q and Z are worth 10 points each, and J and X are worth 8. A five-letter word like QUAKE, JAZZY or EXTRA can turn a quiet turn into a big score. See our list of high-scoring 5 letter Scrabble words for more.
Frequently asked questions
What is the rarest letter in Wordle?
Q. Only 23 of 2,120 likely answers in our list contain it, followed by J (27), X (31) and Z (36).
Are there 5 letter words with Q but no U?
Yes, but they are unusual words, such as QANAT, QAIDS and FAQIR. Every likely Wordle answer with Q in our list has U straight after it.
Do any 5 letter words start with X?
Very few common ones. XEROX is the only likely answer in our list that starts with X. Most X words have it in the middle (EXTRA, TOXIC) or at the end (RELAX, INDEX).
What 5 letter words have two Z’s?
Common examples are DIZZY, FIZZY, FUZZY, JAZZY and PIZZA.
All counts in this guide come from our own word list. “Likely answers” are the common five-letter words most likely to be chosen as Wordle answers, as marked in our solver.
