There are 168 five-letter words ending in ER in WordleSolver's data: 148 in our curated list of 3,424 common words, plus 20 past Wordle answers (like ASTER, BALER, CORER, CYBER) the curated list omits. 112 of them have been Wordle answers as of puzzle #1939 (October 10, 2026), which makes ER the most common ending in Wordle.
What are all the 5-letter words that end in ER?
The complete list has 168 words, grouped by the letter just before ER with the biggest group first. Words in bold have already been a daily Wordle answer; the plain ones have not. Most are everyday vocabulary, such as AFTER, NEVER, PAPER, and WATER, which is exactly why the ending turns up so often.
-TER (20): AFTER, ALTER, APTER, ASTER, CATER, CUTER, DETER, EATER, ENTER, HATER, INTER, LATER, METER, MUTER, OTTER, OUTER, PETER, UTTER, VOTER, WATER
-VER (15): COVER, DIVER, FEVER, FIVER, HOVER, LEVER, LIVER, LOVER, MOVER, NEVER, RIVER, ROVER, SAVER, SEVER, WAVER
-DER (11): CIDER, ELDER, NUDER, ODDER, OLDER, ORDER, RIDER, RUDER, UDDER, UNDER, WIDER
-PER (11): CAPER, HYPER, LEPER, PAPER, PIPER, RIPER, SUPER, TAPER, UPPER, VIPER, WIPER
-WER (11): COWER, FEWER, LOWER, MOWER, NEWER, POWER, RAWER, ROWER, SEWER, SOWER, TOWER
-YER (10): BUYER, COYER, DRYER, FLYER, FOYER, GAYER, LAYER, PAYER, SHYER, WRYER
-GER (9): ANGER, EAGER, EDGER, HUGER, LAGER, PAGER, SAGER, TIGER, WAGER
-NER (9): DINER, FINER, GONER, INNER, LINER, MINER, OWNER, SANER, TUNER
-FER (8): DEFER, GOFER, INFER, OFFER, REFER, RIFER, SAFER, WAFER
-RER (8): BARER, CORER, DIRER, PARER, PURER, RARER, SORER, SURER
-KER (7): BAKER, HIKER, JOKER, LIKER, MAKER, POKER, TAKER
-LER (7): ABLER, BALER, HALER, IDLER, PALER, RULER, VILER
-SER (7): BASER, LASER, LOSER, MISER, POSER, RISER, WISER
-BER (6): AMBER, CYBER, EMBER, FIBER, SOBER, TUBER
-EER (6): CHEER, FREER, QUEER, SHEER, SNEER, STEER
-MER (6): DIMER, GAMER, HOMER, LAMER, TAMER, TIMER
-XER (4): BOXER, FIXER, LAXER, MIXER
-CER (3): NICER, RACER, ULCER
-HER (3): ETHER, OTHER, USHER
-IER (3): DRIER, ICIER, SKIER
-UER (2): BLUER, TRUER
-OER (1): WOOER
-ZER (1): SIZER
Why do so many Wordle answers end in ER?
ER is the most common two-letter ending among Wordle answers. 112 of the 1,913 distinct answers end in ER, which is 5.9%, and no other ending comes close: the runner-up, -CH, has 46. ER also accounts for 112 of the 163 answers that end in R.
| Ending | Wordle answers | Curated word list |
|---|---|---|
| -ER | 112 | 148 |
| -CH | 46 | 57 |
| -SE | 45 | 49 |
| -AL | 37 | 38 |
| -LY | 37 | 44 |
| -TE | 37 | 36 |
In our curated word list, ER is only the 4th most common ending, behind -ES, -ED, and -TS. Those endings are mostly plurals (EXAMS, OVENS) and past-tense verbs (ENDED, OPTED), which the New York Times avoids as answers. Strip them out and ER rises to the top, because it covers three big families at once: comparatives (LATER, OLDER, WISER), people and things that do something (BAKER, RULER, TIMER), and plain base words that happen to end in ER (AFTER, UNDER, WATER). See our guides on whether Wordle answers can be plural and whether Wordle uses past-tense words.
Which 5-letter ER words have already been Wordle answers?
112 different ER words have been the daily answer in the 1,940 puzzles from #0 (June 19, 2021) through #1939 (October 10, 2026). The first was PAPER on puzzle #35 and the most recent was RIVER on puzzle #1929 (September 30, 2026). In alphabetical order: AFTER, ALTER, AMBER, ANGER, ASTER, BAKER, BALER, BOXER, BUYER, CAPER, CATER, CHEER, CIDER, CORER, COVER, COWER, CYBER, DEFER, DETER, DINER, DIVER, DRYER, EAGER, ELDER, EMBER, ENTER, ETHER, FEVER, FEWER, FIBER, FINER, FIXER, FLYER, FOYER, GAMER, GOFER, GONER, HATER, HOMER, HOVER, HYPER, IDLER, INFER, INNER, INTER, JOKER, LAGER, LASER, LATER, LAYER, LEVER, LINER, LIVER, LOSER, LOVER, LOWER, MAKER, METER, MINER, MISER, MOVER, NEVER, NICER, OFFER, OLDER, ORDER, OTHER, OTTER, OUTER, OWNER, PAGER, PAPER, PARER, PIPER, POKER, POSER, POWER, QUEER, RACER, REFER, RIDER, RIPER, RISER, RIVER, ROVER, ROWER, RUDER, RULER, SEVER, SKIER, SOBER, SOWER, SUPER, SURER, TAPER, TIGER, TIMER, TOWER, TUBER, UDDER, ULCER, UNDER, UPPER, USHER, UTTER, VOTER, WAFER, WAGER, WATER, WAVER, WISER, WOOER.
How often does an ER word come up?
On average an ER answer appears every 17 puzzles, a little more than once every three weeks, and the longest gap between two of them was 120 puzzles. By calendar year the count has run 9 in 2021, 21 in 2022, 17 in 2023, 27 in 2024, 23 in 2025, 15 in 2026 (2021 is a partial year starting in June, and the latest year is still in progress). None of the 112 has been reused, so no ER word appears twice in the archive. To check any word against the full history, use our archive of every Wordle answer ever.
Which ER words have never been Wordle answers?
Of the 148 ER words in our curated list, 56 have never been a Wordle answer: ABLER, APTER, BARER, BASER, BLUER, COYER, CUTER, DIMER, DIRER, DRIER, EATER, EDGER, FIVER, FREER, GAYER, HALER, HIKER, HUGER, ICIER, LAMER, LAXER, LEPER, LIKER, MIXER, MOWER, MUTER, NEWER, NUDER, ODDER, PALER, PAYER, PETER, PURER, RARER, RAWER, RIFER, SAFER, SAGER, SANER, SAVER, SEWER, SHEER, SHYER, SIZER, SNEER, SORER, STEER, TAKER, TAMER, TRUER, TUNER, VILER, VIPER, WIDER, WIPER, WRYER.
Most fall into two groups. Awkward comparatives such as ABLER, APTER, BLUER, CUTER, HUGER, and LAXER are valid words, but the everyday ones (FEWER, NICER, OLDER, WISER) are what Wordle has picked. Agent nouns such as EATER, HIKER, MIXER, MOWER, PAYER, and SAVER are ordinary enough that any could still turn up. A few plain words, LEPER, SEWER, SHEER, SNEER, STEER, and VIPER, simply have not had their day yet. Treat the never-used list as a pool of candidates, not a promise: Wordle accepts all of these as guesses.
What is the -ER trap in Wordle?
It is a board where four letters are green and only the first is missing. Because so many common words end in ER, several patterns leave four or more candidates. The biggest is _OWER, with 7:
| Pattern | Candidates | Past answers | Words |
|---|---|---|---|
| _OWER | 7 | 6 | COWER, LOWER, MOWER, POWER, ROWER, SOWER, TOWER |
| _AGER | 5 | 4 | EAGER, LAGER, PAGER, SAGER, WAGER |
| _ATER | 5 | 4 | CATER, EATER, HATER, LATER, WATER |
| _OVER | 5 | 5 | COVER, HOVER, LOVER, MOVER, ROVER |
| _EVER | 4 | 4 | FEVER, LEVER, NEVER, SEVER |
| _INER | 4 | 4 | DINER, FINER, LINER, MINER |
| _IPER | 4 | 2 | PIPER, RIPER, VIPER, WIPER |
| _IVER | 4 | 3 | DIVER, FIVER, LIVER, RIVER |
In hard mode you have to keep every green letter, so each guess can test just one first letter, and 7 _OWER candidates (COWER, LOWER, MOWER, POWER, ROWER, SOWER, and TOWER) can outlast your remaining turns. In normal mode, break the pattern instead: a word like CLAMP tests C, L, M, and P in one guess, leaving at most three _OWER words. The same idea works for _ATER, _OVER, and the rest. Our Wordle hard mode guide covers this streak killer in more detail.
What is the best 5-letter ER word to guess in Wordle?
ALTER is the strongest ER guess based on the letters Wordle answers actually use. Scoring each past ER answer by how many distinct answers contain its letters puts ALTER first, followed by LATER, ASTER, LASER, CATER, and HATER. They combine the E and R with A, T, L, and S, so a single guess tests most of the common consonants. Words like these also make reasonable openers, but our best Wordle starting words list ranks the strongest first guesses overall.
Expect a repeated letter
39 of the 112 ER answers repeat a letter, which is 35% against 31% of all answers. The extra letter is usually the ending's own: 16 have a second E (EAGER, FEVER, NEVER, REFER) and 15 have a second R (ORDER, RIVER, RULER). If the obvious ER candidates are gone, try one with another E or R before giving up on the ending. Our guide to Wordle double letters explains how tile colors behave when a letter repeats.
How do I narrow down ER words with a solver?
Put E in position four and R in position five, add every yellow and gray clue you have, and let the Wordle solver filter the list instead of scanning it by hand. To combine the ending with another pattern, such as a known first letter, use the five-letter words finder. If only the final R is green, do not assume ER yet: 51 past answers end in R another way, such as CIGAR, MAJOR, and SUGAR.
Sources and further reading
- Every Wordle answer ever to confirm any word and puzzle number.
- 5 letter words starting with O, where 7 of the O-answers end in ER.
- 5 letter words ending in A for a much rarer ending.
- Editorial policy for how we check and update these guides.