Word Lists · R _ _ _ N
5 Letter Words Starting With R and Ending in N
Every five-letter word that fits R _ _ _ N — 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 N?
The R…N shape covers 41 words, with 9 in the answer pool. Follow up with RISEN — about 96% of the remaining answers gone.
Square two does most of the remaining work, and it leans heavily toward E: 15 of the 41 words, 37% of the list (REIGN, RERUN, RESIN). Guessing RE as your opening two letters is the percentage play.
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 9 words that could truly win the board.
Best Wordle Guesses That Fit R _ _ _ N
Once R 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 RISEN — eliminates about 96% of remaining answers on average.
- 02 RESIN — eliminates about 95.8% of remaining answers on average.
- 03 RAMEN — eliminates about 95.6% of remaining answers on average.
The Full List, Grouped by Second Letter
Second-letter groups run E (15), O (10), A (9), I (4). On a R···N board that grouping mirrors exactly the order the clues arrive in.
R···N Words That Have Been Wordle Answers
6 appearances in 1916 puzzles makes this a genuinely uncommon shape — RERUN (#1175, 2024-09-06), RISEN (#1008, 2024-03-23), RESIN (#894, 2023-11-30), RAYON (#817, 2023-09-14), RAMEN (#707, 2023-05-27), ROBIN (#239, 2022-02-13). That leaves 3 candidates the puzzle has never used — RAVEN, REIGN, RIPEN.
| Puzzle | Date | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| #1175 | 2024-09-06 | RERUN |
| #1008 | 2024-03-23 | RISEN |
| #894 | 2023-11-30 | RESIN |
| #817 | 2023-09-14 | RAYON |
| #707 | 2023-05-27 | RAMEN |
| #239 | 2022-02-13 | ROBIN |
Never used as an answer
3 answer-eligible R···N words have never been the solution: RAVEN, REIGN, RIPEN . 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 32 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···N Words by Vowel Count & Second Letter
Vowel structure is the fastest way to narrow the middle three squares. Here is how the 41 R···N words split by how many vowels they contain in total:
| Vowels | Words | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 or fewer | 0 | 0% |
| Exactly 2 | 40 | 98% |
| 3 or more | 1 | 2% |
And the most common second letters among R···N words — handy when a yellow tile hints at the square right after R:
| Pattern | Words |
|---|---|
| RE···N | 15 |
| RO···N | 10 |
| RA···N | 9 |
| RI···N | 4 |
| RU···N | 3 |
How to Use These Words to Win Wordle
- Pin the second letter first. The square after R splits the list fastest — RE alone accounts for 15 of the 41 candidates, so fixing that tile drops most of the rest.
- Favor distinct letters early. 33 of the 41 words here use five different letters and 8 repeat one.
- Lean toward an unused word. Repeats stayed at zero until February 2026 and number just 24 in 1916 puzzles, so the 3 never-used R···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 R and end in N?
There are 41 valid five-letter words that start with R and end in N in our Wordle dictionary, and 9 of them can appear as a daily answer. Turn on the "Answers only" filter above to narrow the R···N list to answer-eligible words.
What are the best R···N words for Wordle?
RISEN, RESIN, RAMEN are the strongest. RISEN eliminates about 96% of the answer pool on average, so if a clue has already fixed R and N, guessing RISEN both tests the pattern and rules out the most remaining words. See more best Wordle starting words.
Which R to N words have been Wordle answers?
6 of them, across 1916 puzzles. The most recent was RERUN (#1175) on 2024-09-06, and the first was ROBIN on 2022-02-13. 3 answer-eligible R···N words have never come up, including RAVEN, REIGN, RIPEN. Browse the full past Wordle answers archive.
Do these R···N words work in hard mode?
Yes. Once R and N are green you must keep them, so this list is exactly your hard-mode candidate set. 33 of the 41 words use five distinct letters and 8 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···N words?
E — RE accounts for 15 of the 41 words (37%), ahead of RO with 10. With both ends already green, square two is usually the tile worth testing first.
How many vowels do R···N words usually have?
100% of these 41 words carry two or more vowels — 40 have exactly two and 1 have three or more, against 0 with one or fewer. With R 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.