Word Lists · Y _ _ _ S
5 Letter Words Starting With Y and Ending in S
Every five-letter word that fits Y _ _ _ S — 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 S?
Locking Y at the front and S at the back still leaves 83 words — more than about 89% of the start/end shapes we track. 0 of those sit in the answer pool.
No single second letter dominates: E leads with just 23 of 83 words (28%), A close behind at 20. 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 0 words that could truly win the board.
Best Wordle Guesses That Fit Y _ _ _ S
Few answer words fit Y···S, so no single word in this set stands out as an opener. Test the middle letters with a word rich in E, A, R, O, and T, then return to this list once the board narrows.
The Full List, Grouped by Second Letter
Second-letter groups run E (23), A (20), O (19), U (11) and a tail of 1 more. On a Y···S board that grouping mirrors exactly the order the clues arrive in.
Y···S Words That Have Been Wordle Answers
In 1916 puzzles, no word with Y and ending in S has ever been the answer. The shape has no answer-eligible words at all, so it can only ever appear as a guess.
Y···S Words by Vowel Count & Second Letter
Vowel structure is the fastest way to narrow the middle three squares. Here is how the 83 Y···S words split by how many vowels they contain in total:
| Vowels | Words | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 or fewer | 44 | 53% |
| Exactly 2 | 39 | 47% |
| 3 or more | 0 | 0% |
And the most common second letters among Y···S words — handy when a yellow tile hints at the square right after Y:
| Pattern | Words |
|---|---|
| YE···S | 23 |
| YA···S | 20 |
| YO···S | 19 |
| YU···S | 11 |
| YI···S | 7 |
| YL···S | 2 |
How to Use These Words to Win Wordle
- Pin the second letter first. The square after Y splits the list fastest — YE alone accounts for 23 of the 83 candidates, so fixing that tile drops most of the rest.
- Favor distinct letters early. 63 of the 83 words here use five different letters and 20 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 S?
There are 83 valid five-letter words that start with Y and end in S in our Wordle dictionary, and 0 of them can appear as a daily answer. Turn on the "Answers only" filter above to narrow the Y···S list to answer-eligible words.
What are the best Y···S words for Wordle?
Few answer words fit Y···S, so words rich in common letters elsewhere tend to score higher.
Has a Y···S word ever been a Wordle answer?
No. In 1916 puzzles the daily Wordle has never landed on a word starting with Y and ending in S. See the full answer archive for what has come up instead.
Do these Y···S words work in hard mode?
Yes. Once Y and S are green you must keep them, so this list is exactly your hard-mode candidate set. 63 of the 83 words use five distinct letters and 20 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···S words?
E — YE accounts for 23 of the 83 words (28%), ahead of YA with 20. With both ends already green, square two is usually the tile worth testing first.
How many vowels do Y···S words usually have?
47% of these 83 words carry two or more vowels — 39 have exactly two and 0 have three or more, against 44 with one or fewer. With Y 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.