Word of the Day · Wednesday, April 22, 2026
/ˈməʊdəm/noun
A device that encodes digital computer signals into analog/analogue telephone signals and vice versa and allows computers to communicate over a phone line.
MODEM is a 5-letter word with 2 vowels (O, E) and 3 consonants (M, D, M). It repeats 1 letter, which is a classic trap — guessers who assume five distinct letters get stuck.
It leans on high-frequency letters (O, E), so a strong vowel-and-common-consonant opener tends to light up quickly. There are no rare letters here, so it is a fair, mid-difficulty answer for the daily Classic puzzle.
Across the 1,734 curated answers in the Wordocious bank, E appears in 50% of answers (the 1st most common letter), O appears in 30% of answers (the 5th most common letter), D appears in 19% of answers (the 11th most common letter). 23 other answers share the opening “MO-”, so two green tiles up front still leave real guessing to do.
Difficulty: 2/5 — approachable, because the repeated letter hides one position.
One letter away in the answer bank: MODEL. Each of these turns four tiles green against MODEM — the classic endgame squeeze where spending a guess on the differing letter beats burning attempts on hope.
Words like MODEM 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.