Word Lists · H + V
5 Letter Words With H and V
Every five-letter word that contains both H and V, in any position — answer-eligible words flagged in green, tap any word to play.
How Many 5-Letter Words Have H and V?
Only 29 five-letter words carry both H and V, which makes this one of the tighter pairs on the board — narrower than about 89% of all letter pairings. The answer pool trims it further, to 10: HALVE, HAVEN, HAVOC and the rest. A list this short is one you read rather than guess at.
Nearly half the list agrees on one square: V in the 4th, 15 words out of 29 (HALVE, HEAVE, HEAVY, SHAVE among them). It is the percentage play when nothing else separates two candidates.
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 10 words that can truly win the board.
Best Wordle Words With H and V
When H and V 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 HALVE — eliminates about 93.8% of remaining answers on average.
- 02 SHAVE — eliminates about 93.6% of remaining answers on average.
- 03 HAVEN — eliminates about 93.2% of remaining answers on average.
The Full List, Grouped by First Letter
V·8 H·7 S·7 — the three biggest opening groups, covering 76% of the list across 5 letters overall.
H/V Words That Have Been Wordle Answers
This shape is rare in the daily puzzle. In 1916 Wordles, only 10 words with H and V have been the answer: HOVEL (#1621, 2025-11-26), HAVEN (#1582, 2025-10-18), HOVER (#1351, 2025-03-01), SHOVE (#1266, 2024-12-06), HALVE (#1216, 2024-10-17), SHAVE (#1052, 2024-05-06), HEAVE (#997, 2024-03-12), HEAVY (#978, 2024-02-22), HAVOC (#558, 2022-12-29), VOUCH (#340, 2022-05-25). Every answer-eligible word here has already had its turn.
| Puzzle | Date | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| #1621 | 2025-11-26 | HOVEL |
| #1582 | 2025-10-18 | HAVEN |
| #1351 | 2025-03-01 | HOVER |
| #1266 | 2024-12-06 | SHOVE |
| #1216 | 2024-10-17 | HALVE |
| #1052 | 2024-05-06 | SHAVE |
| #997 | 2024-03-12 | HEAVE |
| #978 | 2024-02-22 | HEAVY |
| #558 | 2022-12-29 | HAVOC |
| #340 | 2022-05-25 | VOUCH |
The other 19 words on this list are valid guesses the game accepts but never chooses as a solution. They still make useful probes for placing H and V, but when you guess to win, a green-dotted answer word is the smarter pick.
Where H and V Land in 5-Letter Words
The whole puzzle now is placement, so here is exactly where each letter tends to sit across the 29 words. Try the busiest square first.
| Position | Words with H here | Words with V here |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 7 | 8 |
| 2nd | 12 | 0 |
| 3rd | 2 | 5 |
| 4th | 4 | 15 |
| 5th | 4 | 1 |
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. H in slot 2 covers 12 of these 29 words and V in slot 4 covers 15 — try that shape before rarer placements.
- Favor distinct letters early. 25 of the 29 words here use five different letters and 4 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 have H and V?
There are 29 valid five-letter words that contain both H and V in any position, and 10 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 H and V confirmed?
HALVE — it keeps both letters and still eliminates about 93.8% of the remaining answer pool. HALVE, SHAVE, HAVEN are the top three by that measure. See more best Wordle starting words.
Where do H and V usually sit in these words?
H most often lands in the 2nd position (12 of 29 words) and V in the 4th (15). That is a strong enough lean to guess on directly.
Which H/V words have been Wordle answers?
10 of them, out of 1916 puzzles so far. The most recent was HOVEL (#1621) on 2025-11-26, and the first was VOUCH on 2022-05-25. 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 H and V show as present you must reuse them, so this is exactly your hard-mode candidate set. 25 of the 29 words use five distinct letters and 4 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 H and V next to each other?
No. In all 29 words with H and V, the two letters never sit side by side — there is always at least one square between them.
How many H/V words have no repeated letters?
25 of the 29. Those are the ones that reveal the most board per guess, so they are the better probes early on. The other 4 double up on some letter, and 62% of the full list carries two or more vowels. For a full clue-by-clue solve, send your board to the Wordle Solver.