Word Lists · R + X
5 Letter Words With R and X
Every five-letter word that contains both R and X, in any position — answer-eligible words flagged in green, tap any word to play.
How Many 5-Letter Words Have R and X?
Only 48 five-letter words carry both R and X, which makes this one of the tighter pairs on the board — narrower than about 77% of all letter pairings. The answer pool trims it further, to 7: BORAX, BOXER, EXERT and the rest. A list this short is one you read rather than guess at.
Position is a weak signal on this pair — the strongest slot holds only 42% of the list. R tilts toward the 1st square and X toward the 5th (BORAX, RELAX), but plenty of words break both habits.
Only 1 of these words let R and X sit next to each other — XRAYS, so spacing them out is the better default.
88% 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 7 words that can truly win the board.
Best Wordle Words With R and X
When R 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 EXTRA — eliminates about 93.5% of remaining answers on average.
- 03 BOXER — eliminates about 90.8% of remaining answers on average.
The Full List, Grouped by First Letter
With 18 opening letters in play and R leading at just 13 words, this list rewards excluding greys over guessing the opening.
R/X Words That Have Been Wordle Answers
This shape is rare in the daily puzzle. In 1916 Wordles, only 8 words with R and X have been the answer: REMIX (#1900, 2026-09-01), RELAX (#1295, 2025-01-04), BOXER (#1273, 2024-12-13), EXERT (#818, 2023-09-15), BORAX (#662, 2023-04-12), EXTRA (#554, 2022-12-25), PROXY (#213, 2022-01-18), FIXER (#143, 2021-11-09). Every answer-eligible word here has already had its turn.
| Puzzle | Date | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| #1900 | 2026-09-01 | REMIX |
| #1295 | 2025-01-04 | RELAX |
| #1273 | 2024-12-13 | BOXER |
| #818 | 2023-09-15 | EXERT |
| #662 | 2023-04-12 | BORAX |
| #554 | 2022-12-25 | EXTRA |
| #213 | 2022-01-18 | PROXY |
| #143 | 2021-11-09 | FIXER |
The other 41 words on this list are valid guesses the game accepts but never chooses as a solution. They still make useful probes for placing R and X, but when you guess to win, a green-dotted answer word is the smarter pick.
Where R 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 48 words. Try the busiest square first.
| Position | Words with R here | Words with X here |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 13 | 4 |
| 2nd | 7 | 5 |
| 3rd | 11 | 15 |
| 4th | 4 | 5 |
| 5th | 13 | 20 |
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. R in slot 1 covers 13 of these 48 words and X in slot 5 covers 20 — try that shape before rarer placements.
- Favor distinct letters early. 42 of the 48 words here use five different letters and 6 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 R and X?
There are 48 valid five-letter words that contain both R and X in any position, and 7 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 R and X confirmed?
RELAX — it keeps both letters and still eliminates about 94.2% of the remaining answer pool. RELAX, EXTRA, BOXER are the top three by that measure. See more best Wordle starting words.
Where do R and X usually sit in these words?
R most often lands in the 1st position (13 of 48 words) and X in the 5th (20). Neither is dominant, so treat it as a tiebreaker rather than a rule.
Which R/X words have been Wordle answers?
8 of them, out of 1916 puzzles so far. The most recent was REMIX (#1900) on 2026-09-01, and the first was FIXER on 2021-11-09. 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 R and X show as present you must reuse them, so this is exactly your hard-mode candidate set. 42 of the 48 words use five distinct letters and 6 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 R and X next to each other?
1 of the 48 words place R and X in neighbouring squares: XRAYS. The remaining 47 keep at least one square between them.
How many R/X words have no repeated letters?
42 of the 48. Those are the ones that reveal the most board per guess, so they are the better probes early on. The other 6 double up on some letter, and 88% of the full list carries two or more vowels. For a full clue-by-clue solve, send your board to the Wordle Solver.