Best Second Word in Wordle (Matched to Your Opener)

Most Wordle advice stops at the first guess. But a great opener only tells you about five letters. Your second guess decides whether you go into guess three with a handful of clues or almost nothing. The best second word depends on what you opened with, so we worked it out for seven of the most popular openers.

Why the second word matters

We tested each opener against the 2,120 words in our list that are most likely to be Wordle answers. On its own, a strong opener like SLATE finds about 1.7 of the answer’s letters on average, and for roughly one answer in ten it finds none at all.

Add the right second word, one with five new common letters, and the picture changes completely:

• The two guesses together find about 3 of the answer’s letters on average.
• Around 70–75% of answers have 3 or more of their letters revealed.
• Almost no answer (under 1%) is left with zero clues.

That is the difference between guessing blind on turn three and solving it.

The best second word for each opener

For each opener, these second words use five letters the opener did not test, chosen from the letters that appear most often in five-letter answers:

Two patterns stand out. Consonant-heavy openers (SLATE, CRANE, STARE) pair best with a second word full of the vowels they skipped, like O, I and U. Vowel-heavy openers (ADIEU, AUDIO) need a second word packed with common consonants such as S, T, R and N.

Which pair is best overall?

In our data, SLATE + IRONY and AROSE + UNTIL come out on top, each revealing 3 or more letters for about three quarters of likely answers. If you do not have a favourite opener yet, either pair is an excellent default. See how we rank openers in our guide to the best Wordle starting words.

When not to use a fixed second word

A fixed second word is best when your opener gives you little: all grey, or one or two yellows. Change plans when:

• Your opener shows 2 or more greens. You already have a strong lead. Use the Wordle solver to see what fits, and pick a likely answer.
• You have several yellows. A word that tests new letters and moves a yellow to a new spot can do both jobs.
• You play hard mode. Every guess must use your green and yellow letters, so a fixed second word often isn’t allowed. Read our Wordle hard mode tips.

How to use your two guesses with the solver

1. Play your opener and your second word.
2. On our 5 letter word finder, put green letters in their boxes, yellow letters in the yellow box for the position where you played them, and grey letters in the grey field.
3. Press Find words. With about three letters known, the list is usually short enough to pick a highlighted, likely answer.

Want to understand why these letters matter? See the most common letters in 5 letter words, including which letters favour each position.

Explore likely answers ending in Y

IRONY, UNITY, STORY and ENTRY all test Y in the last spot, and for good reason: Y is the second most common final letter in likely Wordle answers. Here they are: