Word Lists · D _ _ _ N
5 Letter Words Starting With D and Ending in N
Every five-letter word that fits D _ _ _ N — 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 N?
24 words start with D and end with N, 6 of them answer-eligible. DRAIN is the most efficient probe from here, clearing about 94.9%.
The second letter stays open here — E is the most common at only 29% (DEIGN, DEMON). Expect to spend a guess narrowing it rather than assuming.
83% of these words carry two or more vowels, so the middle is vowel-rich — test consonants with your next probe.
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 6 words that could truly win the board.
Best Wordle Guesses That Fit D _ _ _ N
Once D and N 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 DRAIN — eliminates about 94.9% of remaining answers on average.
- 02 DEMON — eliminates about 92.3% of remaining answers on average.
- 03 DRAWN — eliminates about 92.3% of remaining answers on average.
The Full List, Grouped by Second Letter
Reading by square two: DE·7 DO·5 DA·4 DI·3 DR·3 +1 others. Tap the group that matches your board rather than scrolling the whole 24-word column.
D···N 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 N have been the answer: DEMON (#1845, 2026-07-08), DRAWN (#1177, 2024-09-08), DOZEN (#129, 2021-10-26), DRAIN (#63, 2021-08-21). That leaves 2 candidates the puzzle has never used — DEIGN, DROWN.
| Puzzle | Date | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| #1845 | 2026-07-08 | DEMON |
| #1177 | 2024-09-08 | DRAWN |
| #129 | 2021-10-26 | DOZEN |
| #63 | 2021-08-21 | DRAIN |
Never used as an answer
2 answer-eligible D···N words have never been the solution: DEIGN, DROWN . 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 18 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···N Words by Vowel Count & Second Letter
Vowel structure is the fastest way to narrow the middle three squares. Here is how the 24 D···N words split by how many vowels they contain in total:
| Vowels | Words | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 or fewer | 4 | 17% |
| Exactly 2 | 20 | 83% |
| 3 or more | 0 | 0% |
And the most common second letters among D···N words — handy when a yellow tile hints at the square right after D:
| Pattern | Words |
|---|---|
| DE···N | 7 |
| DO···N | 5 |
| DA···N | 4 |
| DI···N | 3 |
| DR···N | 3 |
| DJ···N | 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 7 of the 24 candidates, so fixing that tile drops most of the rest.
- Favor distinct letters early. 20 of the 24 words here use five different letters and 4 repeat one.
- Lean toward an unused word. Repeats stayed at zero until February 2026 and number just 24 in 1916 puzzles, so the 2 never-used D···N words above remain 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 N?
There are 24 valid five-letter words that start with D and end in N in our Wordle dictionary, and 6 of them can appear as a daily answer. Turn on the "Answers only" filter above to narrow the D···N list to answer-eligible words.
What are the best D···N words for Wordle?
DRAIN, DEMON, DRAWN are the strongest. DRAIN eliminates about 94.9% of the answer pool on average, so if a clue has already fixed D and N, guessing DRAIN both tests the pattern and rules out the most remaining words. See more best Wordle starting words.
Which D to N words have been Wordle answers?
4 of them, across 1916 puzzles. The most recent was DEMON (#1845) on 2026-07-08, and the first was DRAIN on 2021-08-21. 2 answer-eligible D···N words have never come up, including DEIGN, DROWN. Browse the full past Wordle answers archive.
Do these D···N words work in hard mode?
Yes. Once D and N are green you must keep them, so this list is exactly your hard-mode candidate set. 20 of the 24 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 D···N words?
E — DE accounts for 7 of the 24 words (29%), ahead of DO with 5. With both ends already green, square two is usually the tile worth testing first.
How many vowels do D···N words usually have?
83% of these 24 words carry two or more vowels — 20 have exactly two and 0 have three or more, against 4 with one or fewer. With D and N 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.