Word Lists · R _ _ _ H
5 Letter Words Starting With R and Ending in H
Every five-letter word that fits R _ _ _ H — answer-eligible words are flagged in green, and you can tap any word to play it.
How Many 5-Letter Words Start With R and End in H?
The R…H shape covers 15 words, with 7 in the answer pool. Follow up with REACH — about 95.2% of the remaining answers gone.
No single second letter dominates: A leads with just 5 of 15 words (33%), O close behind at 5. 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 7 words that could truly win the board.
Best Wordle Guesses That Fit R _ _ _ H
Once R 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 REACH — eliminates about 95.2% of remaining answers on average.
- 02 ROACH — eliminates about 94.3% of remaining answers on average.
- 03 RETCH — eliminates about 94.1% of remaining answers on average.
The Full List, Grouped by Second Letter
Second-letter groups run A (5), O (5), E (4), U (1). On a R···H board that grouping mirrors exactly the order the clues arrive in.
R···H Words That Have Been Wordle Answers
5 appearances in 1916 puzzles makes this a genuinely uncommon shape — ROUGH (#1443, 2025-06-01), ROACH (#1342, 2025-02-20), REACH (#1313, 2025-01-22), RANCH (#728, 2023-06-17), RETCH (#158, 2021-11-24). That leaves 2 candidates the puzzle has never used — RAJAH, RALPH.
| Puzzle | Date | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| #1443 | 2025-06-01 | ROUGH |
| #1342 | 2025-02-20 | ROACH |
| #1313 | 2025-01-22 | REACH |
| #728 | 2023-06-17 | RANCH |
| #158 | 2021-11-24 | RETCH |
Never used as an answer
2 answer-eligible R···H words have never been the solution: RAJAH, RALPH . 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 8 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.
R···H Words by Vowel Count & Second Letter
Vowel structure is the fastest way to narrow the middle three squares. Here is how the 15 R···H words split by how many vowels they contain in total:
| Vowels | Words | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 or fewer | 8 | 53% |
| Exactly 2 | 7 | 47% |
| 3 or more | 0 | 0% |
And the most common second letters among R···H words — handy when a yellow tile hints at the square right after R:
| Pattern | Words |
|---|---|
| RA···H | 5 |
| RO···H | 5 |
| RE···H | 4 |
| RU···H | 1 |
How to Use These Words to Win Wordle
- Pin the second letter first. The square after R splits the list fastest — RA alone accounts for 5 of the 15 candidates, so fixing that tile drops most of the rest.
- Favor distinct letters early. 12 of the 15 words here use five different letters and 3 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 R···H 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 R and end in H?
There are 15 valid five-letter words that start with R and end in H in our Wordle dictionary, and 7 of them can appear as a daily answer. Turn on the "Answers only" filter above to narrow the R···H list to answer-eligible words.
What are the best R···H words for Wordle?
REACH, ROACH, RETCH are the strongest. REACH eliminates about 95.2% of the answer pool on average, so if a clue has already fixed R and H, guessing REACH both tests the pattern and rules out the most remaining words. See more best Wordle starting words.
Which R to H words have been Wordle answers?
5 of them, across 1916 puzzles. The most recent was ROUGH (#1443) on 2025-06-01, and the first was RETCH on 2021-11-24. 2 answer-eligible R···H words have never come up, including RAJAH, RALPH. Browse the full past Wordle answers archive.
Do these R···H words work in hard mode?
Yes. Once R and H are green you must keep them, so this list is exactly your hard-mode candidate set. 12 of the 15 words use five distinct letters and 3 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 R···H words?
A — RA accounts for 5 of the 15 words (33%), ahead of RO with 5. With both ends already green, square two is usually the tile worth testing first.
How many vowels do R···H words usually have?
47% of these 15 words carry two or more vowels — 7 have exactly two and 0 have three or more, against 8 with one or fewer. With R 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.