Word Lists · D _ _ _ H
5 Letter Words Starting With D and Ending in H
Every five-letter word that fits D _ _ _ H — answer-eligible words are flagged in green, and you can tap any word to play it.
How Many 5-Letter Words Start With D and End in H?
17 words start with D and end with H, 5 of them answer-eligible. DEATH is the most efficient probe from here, clearing about 94.8%.
Once both ends are green, the second letter is where the puzzle actually lives — and here it is E far more often than anything else, 35% of the time, as in DEATH, DEPTH.
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 5 words that could truly win the board.
Best Wordle Guesses That Fit D _ _ _ H
Once D and H 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 DEATH — eliminates about 94.8% of remaining answers on average.
- 02 DEPTH — eliminates about 91.7% of remaining answers on average.
- 03 DITCH — eliminates about 89.6% of remaining answers on average.
The Full List, Grouped by Second Letter
Reading by square two: DE·6 DO·4 DA·3 DU·3 DI·1. Tap the group that matches your board rather than scrolling the whole 17-word column.
D···H Words That Have Been Wordle Answers
This shape is rare in the daily puzzle. In 1916 Wordles, only 4 words with D and ending in H have been the answer: DOUGH (#1619, 2025-11-24), DEPTH (#351, 2022-06-05), DUTCH (#119, 2021-10-16), DEATH (#21, 2021-07-10). That leaves 1 candidate the puzzle has never used — DITCH.
| Puzzle | Date | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| #1619 | 2025-11-24 | DOUGH |
| #351 | 2022-06-05 | DEPTH |
| #119 | 2021-10-16 | DUTCH |
| #21 | 2021-07-10 | DEATH |
Never used as an answer
1 answer-eligible D···H word has never been the solution: DITCH . Wordle avoided repeats entirely for its first 1,688 puzzles and only began reusing old answers in February 2026 — 24 times so far. An unused word is still the likelier bet, just no longer a certainty; see how repeats work for the full picture.
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.
D···H Words by Vowel Count & Second Letter
Vowel structure is the fastest way to narrow the middle three squares. Here is how the 17 D···H words split by how many vowels they contain in total:
| Vowels | Words | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 or fewer | 9 | 53% |
| Exactly 2 | 8 | 47% |
| 3 or more | 0 | 0% |
And the most common second letters among D···H words — handy when a yellow tile hints at the square right after D:
| Pattern | Words |
|---|---|
| DE···H | 6 |
| DO···H | 4 |
| DA···H | 3 |
| DU···H | 3 |
| DI···H | 1 |
How to Use These Words to Win Wordle
- Pin the second letter first. The square after D splits the list fastest — DE alone accounts for 6 of the 17 candidates, so fixing that tile drops most of the rest.
- Favor distinct letters early. 15 of the 17 words here use five different letters and 2 repeat one.
- Lean toward an unused word. Repeats stayed at zero until February 2026 and number just 24 in 1916 puzzles, so the 1 never-used D···H word above remains the stronger bet.
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 D and end in H?
There are 17 valid five-letter words that start with D and end in H in our Wordle dictionary, and 5 of them can appear as a daily answer. Turn on the "Answers only" filter above to narrow the D···H list to answer-eligible words.
What are the best D···H words for Wordle?
DEATH, DEPTH, DITCH are the strongest. DEATH eliminates about 94.8% of the answer pool on average, so if a clue has already fixed D and H, guessing DEATH both tests the pattern and rules out the most remaining words. See more best Wordle starting words.
Which D to H words have been Wordle answers?
4 of them, across 1916 puzzles. The most recent was DOUGH (#1619) on 2025-11-24, and the first was DEATH on 2021-07-10. 1 answer-eligible D···H word has never come up, including DITCH. Browse the full past Wordle answers archive.
Do these D···H words work in hard mode?
Yes. Once D and H are green you must keep them, so this list is exactly your hard-mode candidate set. 15 of the 17 words use five distinct letters and 2 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 D···H words?
E — DE accounts for 6 of the 17 words (35%), ahead of DO with 4. With both ends already green, square two is usually the tile worth testing first.
How many vowels do D···H words usually have?
47% of these 17 words carry two or more vowels — 8 have exactly two and 0 have three or more, against 9 with one or fewer. With D and H 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.