Word Lists · N _ _ _ R
5 Letter Words Starting With N and Ending in R
Every five-letter word that fits N _ _ _ R — answer-eligible words are flagged in green, and you can tap any word to play it.
How Many 5-Letter Words Start With N and End in R?
The N…R shape covers 18 words, with 4 in the answer pool. Follow up with NICER — about 95.2% of the remaining answers gone.
No single second letter dominates: A leads with just 6 of 18 words (33%), I close behind at 6. Square two is a genuine unknown on this shape.
100% 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 4 words that could truly win the board.
Best Wordle Guesses That Fit N _ _ _ R
Once N and R 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 NICER — eliminates about 95.2% of remaining answers on average.
- 02 NADIR — eliminates about 94.7% of remaining answers on average.
- 03 NEWER — eliminates about 90.3% of remaining answers on average.
The Full List, Grouped by Second Letter
Second-letter groups run A (6), I (6), E (3), O (2). On a N···R board that grouping mirrors exactly the order the clues arrive in.
N···R Words That Have Been Wordle Answers
3 appearances in 1916 puzzles makes this a genuinely uncommon shape — NADIR (#1547, 2025-09-13), NICER (#1066, 2024-05-20), NEVER (#967, 2024-02-11). That leaves 1 candidate the puzzle has never used — NEWER.
| Puzzle | Date | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| #1547 | 2025-09-13 | NADIR |
| #1066 | 2024-05-20 | NICER |
| #967 | 2024-02-11 | NEVER |
Never used as an answer
1 answer-eligible N···R word has never been the solution: NEWER . 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 14 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.
N···R Words by Vowel Count & Second Letter
Vowel structure is the fastest way to narrow the middle three squares. Here is how the 18 N···R words split by how many vowels they contain in total:
| Vowels | Words | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 or fewer | 0 | 0% |
| Exactly 2 | 18 | 100% |
| 3 or more | 0 | 0% |
And the most common second letters among N···R words — handy when a yellow tile hints at the square right after N:
| Pattern | Words |
|---|---|
| NA···R | 6 |
| NI···R | 6 |
| NE···R | 3 |
| NO···R | 2 |
| NU···R | 1 |
How to Use These Words to Win Wordle
- Pin the second letter first. The square after N splits the list fastest — NA alone accounts for 6 of the 18 candidates, so fixing that tile drops most of the rest.
- Favor distinct letters early. 13 of the 18 words here use five different letters and 5 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 N···R 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 N and end in R?
There are 18 valid five-letter words that start with N and end in R in our Wordle dictionary, and 4 of them can appear as a daily answer. Turn on the "Answers only" filter above to narrow the N···R list to answer-eligible words.
What are the best N···R words for Wordle?
NICER, NADIR, NEWER are the strongest. NICER eliminates about 95.2% of the answer pool on average, so if a clue has already fixed N and R, guessing NICER both tests the pattern and rules out the most remaining words. See more best Wordle starting words.
Which N to R words have been Wordle answers?
3 of them, across 1916 puzzles. The most recent was NADIR (#1547) on 2025-09-13, and the first was NEVER on 2024-02-11. 1 answer-eligible N···R word has never come up, including NEWER. Browse the full past Wordle answers archive.
Do these N···R words work in hard mode?
Yes. Once N and R are green you must keep them, so this list is exactly your hard-mode candidate set. 13 of the 18 words use five distinct letters and 5 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 N···R words?
A — NA accounts for 6 of the 18 words (33%), ahead of NI with 6. With both ends already green, square two is usually the tile worth testing first.
How many vowels do N···R words usually have?
100% of these 18 words carry two or more vowels — 18 have exactly two and 0 have three or more, against 0 with one or fewer. With N and R 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.