Word Lists · E + X
5 Letter Words With E and X
Every five-letter word that contains both E and X, in any position — answer-eligible words flagged in green, tap any word to play.
How Many 5-Letter Words Have E and X?
The board narrows to 162 words once E and X are both confirmed present — 23 of them live in the answer pool. Play RELAX next and you clear about 94.2% of what is left.
Placement here is closer to a rule than a tendency: E takes the 4th square in 102 of 162 words, 63% of the list — ANNEX, BOXER, EXCEL, EXPEL all fit. Start there and you are right two times in three.
The two letters touch more often than you would expect: 123 of the 162 words run them together (ANNEX, BOXER, EXACT, EXALT). That adjacency is a cheap thing to test once either letter is locked.
95% of these words carry two or more vowels, so vowel coverage is largely settled — spend the remaining guesses on consonants.
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 23 words that can truly win the board.
Best Wordle Words With E and X
When E and X are both in play, the strongest guess keeps them and rules out as many remaining answers as possible. These three score highest across all 2296 possible answers:
- 01 RELAX — eliminates about 94.2% of remaining answers on average.
- 02 EXALT — eliminates about 93.7% of remaining answers on average.
- 03 EXTRA — eliminates about 93.5% of remaining answers on average.
The Full List, Grouped by First Letter
Openings are well distributed: 24 different first letters, none holding more than 8% of the 162 words. The first-letter chips help most once a green tile has actually fixed square one.
E/X Words That Have Been Wordle Answers
Across 1916 puzzles this shape has supplied 24 answers, from HELIX (#32) through to REMIX (#1900, 2026-09-01). WAXEN (#1675), DETOX (#1585), ANNEX (#1529) landed in between. Still unused: 0 answer-eligible words.
| Puzzle | Date | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| #1900 | 2026-09-01 | REMIX |
| #1675 | 2026-01-19 | WAXEN |
| #1585 | 2025-10-21 | DETOX |
| #1529 | 2025-08-26 | ANNEX |
| #1524 | 2025-08-21 | EXTOL |
| #1484 | 2025-07-12 | EXILE |
| #1454 | 2025-06-12 | VIXEN |
| #1295 | 2025-01-04 | RELAX |
| #1273 | 2024-12-13 | BOXER |
| #1068 | 2024-05-22 | EXALT |
| #955 | 2024-01-30 | EXPEL |
| #886 | 2023-11-22 | PIXEL |
The other 139 words on this list are valid guesses the game accepts but never chooses as a solution. They still make useful probes for placing E and X, but when you guess to win, a green-dotted answer word is the smarter pick.
Where E and X Land in 5-Letter Words
The whole puzzle now is placement, so here is exactly where each letter tends to sit across the 162 words. Try the busiest square first.
| Position | Words with E here | Words with X here |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 13 | 8 |
| 2nd | 49 | 24 |
| 3rd | 5 | 90 |
| 4th | 102 | 3 |
| 5th | 19 | 38 |
Play a candidate that seats each letter in its busiest square and one of two good things happens: a tile turns green and you have locked a position, or it turns yellow again and you have eliminated the single most likely slot in one move.
How to Use These Words to Win Wordle
- Lead with the busiest square. E in slot 4 covers 102 of these 162 words and X in slot 3 covers 90 — try that shape before rarer placements.
- Favor distinct letters early. 125 of the 162 words here use five different letters and 37 repeat one.
- Then check for repeats. Watch for repeats: 27 words on this list use E or X twice (EXCEL, EXERT, EXILE, EXPEL). A single yellow tile does not rule out a second copy of the same letter.
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 have E and X?
There are 162 valid five-letter words that contain both E and X in any position, and 23 of them can be a Wordle answer. Turn on "Answers only" above to narrow the list to answer-eligible words.
What is the best word to guess with E and X confirmed?
RELAX — it keeps both letters and still eliminates about 94.2% of the remaining answer pool. RELAX, EXALT, EXTRA are the top three by that measure. See more best Wordle starting words.
Where do E and X usually sit in these words?
E most often lands in the 4th position (102 of 162 words) and X in the 3rd (90). That is a strong enough lean to guess on directly.
Which E/X words have been Wordle answers?
24 of them, out of 1916 puzzles so far. The most recent was REMIX (#1900) on 2026-09-01, and the first was HELIX on 2021-07-21. Every answer-eligible word on this list has already been used. Browse the full past Wordle answers archive.
Do these words work in hard mode?
Yes. Once E and X show as present you must reuse them, so this is exactly your hard-mode candidate set. 125 of the 162 words use five distinct letters and 37 repeat one, which matters because hard mode will not let you drop a confirmed letter to test elsewhere — see the how-to-play guide.
Are there 5-letter words with E and X next to each other?
123 of the 162 words place E and X in neighbouring squares: ANNEX, AXELS, BOXED, BOXEN, BOXER, BOXES, among others. The remaining 39 keep at least one square between them.
How many E/X words have no repeated letters?
125 of the 162. Those are the ones that reveal the most board per guess, so they are the better probes early on. The other 37 double up on some letter, and 95% of the full list carries two or more vowels. For a full clue-by-clue solve, send your board to the Wordle Solver.