# "Banned" words on Wordle **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** board-card-word-game\ **Created:** [March 3, 2022, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-words-on-wordle/960412 "2022-03-03T13:27:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-words-on-wordle/960412/1 "2022-03-03T13:27:40Z")
I found out there are guess words that are not allowed in Wordle. RAPES was one (I ended up using the anagram SPARE). Seems that it might be logical, but SLAVE not being allowed (I used the anagram SALVE)? Various sites show that words such as BITCH, WHORE, and PUSSY are also banned. Have you run into any others, which may not be as obvious? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-words-on-wordle/960412/2 "2022-03-03T13:45:53Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > Various sites show that words such as BITCH, WHORE, and PUSSY are also banned. I used WHORE once as an early entry, so if it’s banned that’s a recent thing. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-words-on-wordle/960412/3 "2022-03-03T13:47:40Z")
NY Times tweaked the allowed word list when they took over. ---
**Author:** ![jacobsta811](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jacobsta811/32/2893_2.png) [@jacobsta811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobsta811)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-words-on-wordle/960412/4 "2022-03-03T13:47:42Z")
The banned list was part of the swap to the NYTimes that also removed agora. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-words-on-wordle/960412/5 "2022-03-03T22:44:09Z")
Is “double plus ungood” banned? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-words-on-wordle/960412/6 "2022-03-03T22:54:15Z")
What was wrong with “agora”? ---
**Author:** ![jacobsta811](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jacobsta811/32/2893_2.png) [@jacobsta811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobsta811)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-words-on-wordle/960412/7 "2022-03-03T23:01:10Z")
Some of the words removed were removed because they were “uncommon” not because they were undesirable. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2022, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-words-on-wordle/960412/8 "2022-03-04T01:00:15Z")
If you like banned words, there’s always “[sweardle](https://sweardle.glitch.me/)” . ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2022, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-words-on-wordle/960412/9 "2022-03-04T06:13:11Z")
I call dibs on “Turdle”. …Never mind. I Googled it, and apparently that’s the name of a real toy turtle that poops, Walmart even sells it. [![](https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-0kvv9/images/stencil/1280x1280/products/367825/563382/gottagoturdle__39987.1626109076.jpg) ](https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-0kvv9/images/stencil/1280x1280/products/367825/563382/gottagoturdle__39987.1626109076.jpg) You can’t make things up anymore. Satire lost. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2022, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-words-on-wordle/960412/10 "2022-04-23T03:00:05Z")
Dammit, why couldn’t they have had that when I was a kid! ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-words-on-wordle/960412/11 "2022-05-13T10:19:05Z")
[An article about changing the words.](https://tech.hindustantimes.com/amp/tech/news/how-this-wordle-answer-glitch-drove-fans-nuts-71652289709545.html) I’m not sure where I fall on this issue. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-words-on-wordle/960412/12 "2022-05-13T10:29:02Z")
I tried to play CHINK (as in, “a chink in the armor”) and was unable. 🙄 Would have been a grand solution to the situation I was in. Besides, has anybody used “chink” as a slur since, like, the 70’s? I don’t think many people would know it if others didn’t keep reminding them that it’s taboo. In general I lean toward avoiding unnecessary offense. I am never going to use the word “niggardly” because a dozen other less-risky words will do. But some of these Wordle taboos are IMO excessively cautious. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-words-on-wordle/960412/13 "2022-05-13T10:59:00Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > I tried to play CHINK (as in, “a chink in the armor”) and was unable. 🙄 Would have been a grand solution to the situation I was in. Besides, has anybody used “chink” as a slur since, like, the 70’s? I don’t think many people would know it if others didn’t keep reminding them that it’s taboo. I agree it’s more obscure as a slur than it used to be, (even though IMO not obscure enough that people need reminding of its sluriness.) But it has another useful definition, and “a chink in the armor” is such a common phrase that people are unlikely to mistake it for a slur unless they are looking to take offense, unlike “niggardly” which is obscure enough that people might be genuinely unaware of it. I’ve definitely tried to play it in Wordle, since it has great letter coverage. I knew it was very unlikely to be the actual answer, because of its other definition as a slur, but it would provide a lot of information. Sadly, I was unable to even guess it.