basis B₃A₁S₁I₁S₁

BASIS is a five-letter noun for a physical base or foundation. It also names the starting point for an argument or hypothesis, an underlying circumstance, and a regular frequency. That last sense appears in phrases such as “on a weekly basis”; the word therefore shifts from solid support to a recurring schedule.

BASIS at a glance

• Scrabble assigns BASIS 7 points: B is worth 3, and A, I, and both S tiles are worth 1.
• BASIS is an accepted Wordle answer and an allowed guess.
• Two anagrams use the same letters: BASSI and ISBAS.
• Seven one-letter neighbours include BASIC, BASIN, BASIL, and OASIS.
• The word ends in S, a slot held by 30% of five-letter words.

What does BASIS mean?

BASIS is common English rather than a specialist term: its frequency count is 8,975, with a Zipf frequency of 4.81. Its senses share one idea: something serves as support, a starting point, or a condition from which another thing follows.

Use the physical sense for a base or foundation; use the argumentative sense for evidence behind a claim or hypothesis. “On a weekly basis” uses the regular-frequency sense, meaning at regular intervals, not a literal foundation.

Context matters. A building rests on a basis; a conclusion rests on a basis of evidence; a weekly basis describes timing. BASIS appears in Collins, NWL2023, and ENABLE.

BASIS Scrabble score and Wordle status

The 7-point score comes mostly from B, worth 3; A, I, and both S tiles each add 1. On a premium square, B is the tile to place strategically, while the four one-point tiles keep the rack flexible.

Wordle accepts BASIS as both a solution and a guess. Its repeated S means a green S can still leave another S unresolved, so account for the duplicate before ruling out the word.

BASIS starts with B and ends with S; S also appears at the end in 30% of five-letter words, while only 7% start with B. That imbalance makes the final S less distinctive than the opening B. The repeated letter is the word’s main trap in a guessing game.