Word Lists · P _ _ _ S
5 Letter Words Starting With P and Ending in S
Every five-letter word that fits P _ _ _ S — answer-eligible words are flagged in green, and you can tap any word to play it.
How Many 5-Letter Words Start With P and End in S?
Locking P at the front and S at the back still leaves 252 words — more than about 98% of the start/end shapes we track. 1 of those sit in the answer pool, and PRESS clears roughly 90.9% of the field in one guess.
No single second letter dominates: A leads with just 47 of 252 words (19%), O close behind at 44. Square two is a genuine unknown on this shape.
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 1 words that could truly win the board.
Best Wordle Guesses That Fit P _ _ _ S
Once P and S 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 PRESS — eliminates about 90.9% of remaining answers on average.
The Full List, Grouped by Second Letter
Second-letter groups run A (47), O (44), E (40), I (34) and a tail of 31 more. On a P···S board that grouping mirrors exactly the order the clues arrive in.
P···S Words That Have Been Wordle Answers
2 appearances in 1916 puzzles makes this a genuinely uncommon shape — PRESS (#1188, 2024-09-19), PIOUS (#1054, 2024-05-08). Every answer-eligible word here has already had its turn.
| Puzzle | Date | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| #1188 | 2024-09-19 | PRESS |
| #1054 | 2024-05-08 | PIOUS |
The other 251 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.
P···S Words by Vowel Count & Second Letter
Vowel structure is the fastest way to narrow the middle three squares. Here is how the 252 P···S words split by how many vowels they contain in total:
| Vowels | Words | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 or fewer | 117 | 46% |
| Exactly 2 | 133 | 53% |
| 3 or more | 2 | 1% |
And the most common second letters among P···S words — handy when a yellow tile hints at the square right after P:
| Pattern | Words |
|---|---|
| PA···S | 47 |
| PO···S | 44 |
| PE···S | 40 |
| PI···S | 34 |
| PU···S | 32 |
| PR···S | 24 |
How to Use These Words to Win Wordle
- Pin the second letter first. The square after P splits the list fastest — PA alone accounts for 47 of the 252 candidates, so fixing that tile drops most of the rest.
- Favor distinct letters early. 174 of the 252 words here use five different letters and 78 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 P and end in S?
There are 252 valid five-letter words that start with P and end in S in our Wordle dictionary, and 1 of them can appear as a daily answer. Turn on the "Answers only" filter above to narrow the P···S list to answer-eligible words.
What are the best P···S words for Wordle?
PRESS are the strongest. PRESS eliminates about 90.9% of the answer pool on average, so if a clue has already fixed P and S, guessing PRESS both tests the pattern and rules out the most remaining words. See more best Wordle starting words.
Which P to S words have been Wordle answers?
2 of them, across 1916 puzzles. The most recent was PRESS (#1188) on 2024-09-19, and the first was PIOUS on 2024-05-08. Every answer-eligible P···S word has already been used. Browse the full past Wordle answers archive.
Do these P···S words work in hard mode?
Yes. Once P and S are green you must keep them, so this list is exactly your hard-mode candidate set. 174 of the 252 words use five distinct letters and 78 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 P···S words?
A — PA accounts for 47 of the 252 words (19%), ahead of PO with 44. With both ends already green, square two is usually the tile worth testing first.
How many vowels do P···S words usually have?
54% of these 252 words carry two or more vowels — 133 have exactly two and 2 have three or more, against 117 with one or fewer. With P and S 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.