Word Lists · C _ _ _ B
5 Letter Words Starting With C and Ending in B
Every five-letter word that fits C _ _ _ B — answer-eligible words are flagged in green, and you can tap any word to play it.
How Many 5-Letter Words Start With C and End in B?
The C…B shape covers 14 words, with 2 in the answer pool. Follow up with CLIMB — about 88.4% of the remaining answers gone.
Square two does most of the remaining work, and it leans heavily toward O: 5 of the 14 words, 36% of the list. Guessing CO as your opening two letters is the percentage play.
Green-dotted words are answer-eligible — the everyday vocabulary the daily puzzle actually draws from — while hollow-dotted words are valid guesses you can play but that will never be the solution. Flip on Answers only to focus on the 2 words that could truly win the board.
Best Wordle Guesses That Fit C _ _ _ B
Once C and B are green, the strongest follow-up is a word that both fits the pattern and rules out as many remaining answers as possible. These three score highest, measured across all 2296 possible answers:
- 01 CLIMB — eliminates about 88.4% of remaining answers on average.
- 02 CRUMB — eliminates about 87.7% of remaining answers on average.
The Full List, Grouped by Second Letter
Second-letter groups run O (5), A (2), L (2), R (2) and a tail of 1 more. On a C···B board that grouping mirrors exactly the order the clues arrive in.
C···B Words That Have Been Wordle Answers
2 appearances in 1916 puzzles makes this a genuinely uncommon shape — CLIMB (#1020, 2024-04-04), CRUMB (#719, 2023-06-08). Every answer-eligible word here has already had its turn.
| Puzzle | Date | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| #1020 | 2024-04-04 | CLIMB |
| #719 | 2023-06-08 | CRUMB |
The other 12 words are valid guesses the game accepts but will never choose as a solution. They are still useful as probes — words you play to expose new letters — but when you are guessing to win, a green-dotted answer word is the smarter pick.
C···B Words by Vowel Count & Second Letter
Vowel structure is the fastest way to narrow the middle three squares. Here is how the 14 C···B words split by how many vowels they contain in total:
| Vowels | Words | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 or fewer | 5 | 36% |
| Exactly 2 | 9 | 64% |
| 3 or more | 0 | 0% |
And the most common second letters among C···B words — handy when a yellow tile hints at the square right after C:
| Pattern | Words |
|---|---|
| CO···B | 5 |
| CA···B | 2 |
| CL···B | 2 |
| CR···B | 2 |
| CE···B | 1 |
| CH···B | 1 |
How to Use These Words to Win Wordle
- Pin the second letter first. The square after C splits the list fastest — CO alone accounts for 5 of the 14 candidates, so fixing that tile drops most of the rest.
- Favor distinct letters early. 10 of the 14 words here use five different letters and 4 repeat one.
Full strategy lives in the how-to-play guide, and you can practice any time on the unlimited Wordle board.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many 5-letter words start with C and end in B?
There are 14 valid five-letter words that start with C and end in B in our Wordle dictionary, and 2 of them can appear as a daily answer. Turn on the "Answers only" filter above to narrow the C···B list to answer-eligible words.
What are the best C···B words for Wordle?
CLIMB, CRUMB are the strongest. CLIMB eliminates about 88.4% of the answer pool on average, so if a clue has already fixed C and B, guessing CLIMB both tests the pattern and rules out the most remaining words. See more best Wordle starting words.
Which C to B words have been Wordle answers?
2 of them, across 1916 puzzles. The most recent was CLIMB (#1020) on 2024-04-04, and the first was CRUMB on 2023-06-08. Every answer-eligible C···B word has already been used. Browse the full past Wordle answers archive.
Do these C···B words work in hard mode?
Yes. Once C and B are green you must keep them, so this list is exactly your hard-mode candidate set. 10 of the 14 words use five distinct letters and 4 repeat one — worth knowing, because hard mode will not let you drop a confirmed letter to probe elsewhere. See the how-to-play guide.
What is the most common second letter in C···B words?
O — CO accounts for 5 of the 14 words (36%), ahead of CA with 2. With both ends already green, square two is usually the tile worth testing first.
How many vowels do C···B words usually have?
64% of these 14 words carry two or more vowels — 9 have exactly two and 0 have three or more, against 5 with one or fewer. With C and B already fixed, that tells you how much vowel room the three middle squares still need. For a full clue-by-clue solve, send your board to the Wordle Solver.