The best starting words for Termo (with data)
Termo team · Roghan Games · October 19, 2026
Your first guess is the only one you make with no information, so it is the one that can be planned in advance. A good opener does not need luck: it simply tests as many common letters as possible, so that the colors you get back rule out or confirm a lot at once. Below is how we picked the openers for each word length, and the ranking.
How we ranked the words
For each length we took the words that can be the answer of the day in Termo and counted, for every letter, how many answers contain it. A candidate word scores the sum of those shares over its distinct letters. Words that repeat a letter are left out, because a repeated letter wastes a slot. So the ranking is based on our own word lists, not on a generic English frequency table. It is a good heuristic, not a proof of optimal play.
The ranking
| # | 4 letters | 5 letters | 6 letters | 7 letters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EAST | AROSE | ARISEN | NASTIER |
| 2 | EATS | ARISE | SATIRE | ARSENIC |
| 3 | SEAT | RAISE | SERIAL | ERASING |
| 4 | TEAS | RATES | REASON | SENATOR |
| 5 | SALE | STARE | LEARNS | TREASON |
| 6 | SEAL | TEARS | RAISED | ENTAILS |
| 7 | EARS | LASER | ALERTS | CERTAIN |
| 8 | SANE | EARNS | SLATER | TRAINED |
How to use an opener well
- Pick one opener per length and stay flexible. The ranking is a starting point; if two words are close, choose the one you know best.
- Use the second guess to cover new letters. If your opener found only gray tiles, the second guess should avoid those letters and test another set of frequent ones.
- Do not force the opener on short lists. With 4 letters, a word with two different vowels is usually worth more than any consonant combination.
- Learn from the colors, not just the greens. A yellow tells you where the letter cannot be, which narrows the search almost as much as a green.
Want to practice? Try the endless mode with different openers and compare how many guesses you need on average. It is the fastest way to find the one that suits you.
Quick summary
- Prefer words with distinct letters and a mix of vowels and common consonants.
- Rank by how many answers share each letter, not by how common the word looks.
- Adapt after the first colors instead of repeating the same second guess every time.