The most common letters in Wordle-style words (4 to 7 letters)
Wordly team · Roghan Games · October 19, 2026
Knowing which letters show up most is the basis of any strategy. We counted, among the possible answers in our lists, how many words contain each letter (once per word). The numbers below come straight from our lists.
The 10 most present letters, by length
| # | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | E 38% | E 47% | E 65% | E 67% |
| 2 | A 36% | S 45% | R 45% | A 49% |
| 3 | S 30% | A 38% | S 43% | I 48% |
| 4 | O 27% | R 33% | A 43% | R 47% |
| 5 | T 23% | O 29% | I 34% | S 47% |
| 6 | L 22% | I 27% | N 32% | N 42% |
| 7 | R 22% | T 27% | T 31% | T 37% |
| 8 | I 21% | L 26% | O 31% | O 33% |
| 9 | N 20% | N 23% | L 30% | L 32% |
| 10 | D 15% | D 18% | D 27% | C 28% |
The most common letter in each position (5-letter words)
| Position | 1st most common | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slot 1 | S 14% | C 9% | B 7% |
| Slot 2 | A 16% | O 15% | E 12% |
| Slot 3 | A 13% | I 10% | O 9% |
| Slot 4 | E 19% | N 8% | T 8% |
| Slot 5 | S 27% | E 13% | Y 11% |
Vowels: how many a word usually has
| Length | Vowels per word (average) | End in a vowel |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 1.4 | 24% |
| 5 | 1.7 | 18% |
| 6 | 2.2 | 17% |
| 7 | 2.6 | 15% |
What this changes in the game
- Vowels dominate the list, which is why openers with two or three different vowels give so many clues.
- The last slot is very predictable. If the final letter is a common one, testing plurals and verb endings often settles it.
- The first slot has more variety than the rest. Rare letters at the start are less likely than they look.
- Letters at the bottom of the ranking are rarely worth an opening guess; save them for when the word is almost decided.
These numbers describe our lists, which contain common words of the language. In other games or dictionaries the percentages can differ.
Example: what vowels reveal
Suppose the answer is HOUSE. Because vowels are so common, a guess full of them helps build the skeleton of the word. Look at two guesses in a row.
R
O
U
T
E
M
O
U
S
E
H
O
U
S
E
Finding the vowels first organized the rest of the guesses. After that, only the first letter was in doubt.
Common mistakes
- Spending the first guess on rare letters. They appear in very few answers and almost never give a clue.
- Forgetting about position. Knowing a letter is common does not tell you which slot it usually takes.
- Thinking the numbers guarantee the answer. They show tendencies of our lists, not what will come out today.
- Sticking to the same letters. If a guess gave nothing, the next one should test different letters.
Practice plan for this week
- Memorize the five most frequent letters of your language before playing.
- Build the first guess with four or five of them, repeating none.
- On the second guess, test the next letters on the list that have not appeared yet.
- Only after ruling out the common ones, move on to the rarer letters.
Frequently asked questions about letter frequency
- Why do vowels show up so much?
- Because almost every syllable has a vowel. In short words, one or two vowels often hold the whole word together, so testing them early gives many clues.
- Should I avoid rare letters?
- In your opener, yes. Letters like Q, J, X or Z appear in very few answers and are rarely worth an opening guess. Save them for when the word is almost decided.
- Does the position of a letter matter?
- A lot. A letter can be common in a word but rare in one specific slot. That is why the by-position table helps: S is frequent at the end, while other letters are more common at the start.
- Do these numbers apply to other games?
- Only as a reference. They describe our answer lists, and other games may use different dictionaries with slightly different frequencies.