Word Lists · Y _ _ _ N
5 Letter Words Starting With Y and Ending in N
Every five-letter word that fits Y _ _ _ N — answer-eligible words are flagged in green, and you can tap any word to play it.
How Many 5-Letter Words Start With Y and End in N?
Y…N is one of the narrower shapes in the dictionary: 11 five-letter words open with Y and close with N, and 1 of them can be the daily answer — YEARN among them. With both ends green you are usually three letters from done.
The second letter stays open here — A is the most common at only 27%. Expect to spend a guess narrowing it rather than assuming.
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 1 words that could truly win the board.
Best Wordle Guesses That Fit Y _ _ _ N
Once Y 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 YEARN — eliminates about 96% of remaining answers on average.
The Full List, Grouped by Second Letter
Reading by square two: YA·3 YE·3 YO·3 YU·2. Tap the group that matches your board rather than scrolling the whole 11-word column.
Y···N Words That Have Been Wordle Answers
This shape is rare in the daily puzzle. In 1916 Wordles, only 1 word with Y and ending in N has been the answer: YEARN (#62, 2021-08-20). Every answer-eligible word here has already had its turn.
| Puzzle | Date | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| #62 | 2021-08-20 | YEARN |
The other 10 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.
Y···N Words by Vowel Count & Second Letter
Vowel structure is the fastest way to narrow the middle three squares. Here is how the 11 Y···N words split by how many vowels they contain in total:
| Vowels | Words | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 or fewer | 0 | 0% |
| Exactly 2 | 11 | 100% |
| 3 or more | 0 | 0% |
And the most common second letters among Y···N words — handy when a yellow tile hints at the square right after Y:
| Pattern | Words |
|---|---|
| YA···N | 3 |
| YE···N | 3 |
| YO···N | 3 |
| YU···N | 2 |
How to Use These Words to Win Wordle
- Pin the second letter first. The square after Y splits the list fastest — YA alone accounts for 3 of the 11 candidates, so fixing that tile drops most of the rest.
- Favor distinct letters early. 9 of the 11 words here use five different letters and 2 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 Y and end in N?
There are 11 valid five-letter words that start with Y and end in N in our Wordle dictionary, and 1 of them can appear as a daily answer. Turn on the "Answers only" filter above to narrow the Y···N list to answer-eligible words.
What are the best Y···N words for Wordle?
YEARN are the strongest. YEARN eliminates about 96% of the answer pool on average, so if a clue has already fixed Y and N, guessing YEARN both tests the pattern and rules out the most remaining words. See more best Wordle starting words.
Which Y to N words have been Wordle answers?
1 of them, across 1916 puzzles. The most recent was YEARN (#62) on 2021-08-20. Every answer-eligible Y···N word has already been used. Browse the full past Wordle answers archive.
Do these Y···N words work in hard mode?
Yes. Once Y and N are green you must keep them, so this list is exactly your hard-mode candidate set. 9 of the 11 words use five distinct letters and 2 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 Y···N words?
A — YA accounts for 3 of the 11 words (27%), ahead of YE with 3. With both ends already green, square two is usually the tile worth testing first.
How many vowels do Y···N words usually have?
100% of these 11 words carry two or more vowels — 11 have exactly two and 0 have three or more, against 0 with one or fewer. With Y 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.