5-letter words with W as the 1st letter and O as the 4th letter

O anchored in the fourth slot leaves only two open letters after it, which is why this set is so short. WAGON, WHOOP and WIDOW are the recognisable trio, and each is also a Wordle answer. The rest lean hard on Collins, because three entries appear on no other list.

5-letter words with W as the 1st letter and O as the 4th letter

• Only ten words place W first and O fourth, and no other pair on this pattern is shorter.
• WAGON, WHOOP and WIDOW count as common words, and all three are Wordle answers.
• Collins takes all 10; NWL2023 stops at 7 and ENABLE at 6.
• WHOOP, WHOOT and WHOOF share a WHO- opening.
• WAZOO leads at 17 points, with WHOOF on 14 and WHOOP on 13.

Why the dictionary gap matters so much here

Collins takes all ten words, but NWL2023 drops three and ENABLE drops four. WEROS, WHOOT and WROOT are Collins-only, so half of the unusual-looking entries will not survive a North American board at all.

Puzzle players have less to work with. WAGON, WHOOP and WIDOW are the only answers, and they are also the only common words, which means the other seven rarely help with a solve. Most of those are interjections, plurals or regional spellings rather than vocabulary you would use in writing.

Which words with O in the fourth slot are worth playing?

WAZOO is the top scorer at 17, carried by the Z, and WHOOF follows at 14. WHOOP, on 13, is the best pick if you want an entry nobody will question. WIDOW scores 12, WAHOO and WHOOT score 11, and WAGON trails the field at 9.

Six of the ten carry a doubled O, so a full set of tiles is usually needed before these words pay. For a safe answer, choose WAGON or WIDOW; for a high-scoring gamble, WAZOO is the only member that clears 14.