Wordle UK: free word puzzles in British English
Guess the hidden word in six tries. Play as many games as you like, with words from 4 to 11 letters.
More games to try
Quordle, Dordle, Waffle and plenty more word games, all playable on the page.
What is Wordle?
Wordle is a word puzzle with very simple rules: find one hidden word using the clues from your earlier guesses. Software engineer Josh Wardle made it as a gift for his partner, put it online in autumn 2021, and it spread by word of mouth until millions of people were sharing their grids of green and yellow squares. The New York Times bought the game in early 2022.
The original gives everyone a single puzzle a day. That is part of its charm, but plenty of us finish and immediately want another. Wordle UK fixes that. You can play the shared daily word, or jump into unlimited games whenever you fancy one.
How to play
- Type any real word of the right length and press Enter. By default it is five letters, but you can switch to anything from four to eleven.
- The tiles change colour. Green means the letter is correct and in the right place. Yellow means it is in the word, just somewhere else. Grey means it is not in the word.
- Use that information for your next guess. Letters can repeat, so a yellow or green tile does not mean the letter appears only once.
- Keep going until you crack it or run out of the six tries. Then share your coloured grid without giving away the answer.
A worked example
Say the hidden word has five letters. Here is a real game from first guess to solved, in four steps.
Start with a common word
We open with BREAD.
BREAD gives two yellow tiles, so R and E are in the word. B, A and D are not.
Test new letters
Next we try COURT, which tests new letters while moving R around.
COURT lights up four yellow tiles. We now know the answer contains O, U, R, T and E.
Lock in the greens
OUGHT puts O and U in the first two spots, and both turn green.
With OU fixed at the start and R, T, E still to place, the answer is close.
Solve it
OUTER fits every clue so far, and it is right.
Solved in four tries.
Why a British English version?
Most Wordle clones are built on American word lists, so a perfectly good word like FAVOUR can be rejected while FAVOR sails through. Our list of more than 218,582 words (4 to 11 letters) follows British spelling, and the answers come from a shorter pool of 6,089 everyday words, so you will not be asked to guess obscure Scrabble entries.
Tips for better scores
- Open with a word that has several different common letters, such as ALERT, RAISE, TRACE.
- Use your second guess to test fresh letters instead of repeating yellow ones in new positions.
- Think about word shapes. Many words end in -ER, -ED or -LY, and some letters rarely sit together.
- Try Hard mode in Settings if you want to practise using every clue.
Frequently asked questions
How do the Wordle rules work?
You have six tries to find the hidden word. After each guess every tile turns green (right letter, right place), yellow (right letter, wrong place) or grey (letter not in the word). Use those clues to narrow it down.
What is the best word to start with?
Pick a word with common, different letters, ideally with a few vowels. For five letters, ARISE, ROATE and SLATE are popular, and our own list suggests ALERT, RAISE, TRACE.
Is the daily word the same as the New York Times one?
No. Wordle UK picks its own daily word, the same for everybody on the same date, so it will not match the NYT puzzle. We are an independent fan site.
Why does it say “Not in the word list”?
Guesses must be real words from our British English list. Proper nouns, abbreviations and some very new words are left out. If you think a good word is missing, tell us and we will take a look.
Does it use British spellings?
Yes. Our list is built around British English, so you can play COLOUR, FAVOUR or CHEQUE. American-only spellings such as COLOR will not be accepted.
Can I choose a different word length?
Yes. Pick anything from 4 to 11 letters using the length buttons under the board. Each length keeps its own game in progress.
What do the hints do?
A hint reveals one letter of the answer in its correct position, always the leftmost one you have not solved yet. You get two per word, and they are free.
Can I make a puzzle for a friend?
Yes. The puzzle maker creates a link to a single word or a tournament of up to ten words. Send it to anyone and they play your exact words.
Can I install it as an app?
Yes. Use the Install button in the header, or in your browser menu choose “Add to Home Screen”. Once installed, the game also works without a connection.
Is my progress saved?
Your games and statistics are saved in your browser on this device. There is no account, so clearing your site data will also clear them.