Word of the Day · Sunday, December 22, 2024
/dʒəˈhɑːd/noun
A holy war undertaken by Muslims.
JIHAD is a 5-letter word with 2 vowels (I, A) and 3 consonants (J, H, D). Every letter is distinct, so it rarely punishes a clean opening guess.
It leans on high-frequency letters (I, A), so a strong vowel-and-common-consonant opener tends to light up quickly. Watch for the less-common letter J — saving a guess to test it once the vowels are placed is usually the fastest route.
Across the 1,734 curated answers in the Wordocious bank, A appears in 40% of answers (the 2nd most common letter), I appears in 29% of answers (the 6th most common letter), D appears in 19% of answers (the 11th most common letter). No other answer in the bank opens with “JI-”, so locking those first two letters all but gives it away.
Difficulty: 2/5 — approachable, because it uses at least one genuinely rare letter.
Words like JIHAD are exactly what the daily puzzles throw at you. Warm up in Practice, race the clock in the Daily Challenge, or study the best starting words before your next run. New to the multi-board modes? The mode guides cover all nine.
Definitions adapted from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API (CC BY-SA). Letter statistics, difficulty ratings, and near-miss analysis are original Wordocious research computed from our curated answer list.