W O R D L E
4-letter Very Hard 15% solve rate

LAVA — 4-Letter Wordle Word Analysis

Letter frequency breakdown, position stats, word meaning, and a full solve walkthrough.

LAVA is a 4-letter word. Our solver rates it "Very Hard" difficulty, with a typical solve rate around 15% within the standard six guesses. This puts it among the more challenging ones — a classification based on letter frequency, position probability, and overall pattern complexity. It repeats the letter "A", which narrows the letter pool faster once you spot it but can also be tricky if you're not looking for duplicates. Below you'll find a comprehensive letter-frequency breakdown showing how common each letter is in this position and across all 4-letter words, a detailed step-by-step solve walkthrough that demonstrates optimal guessing strategy, the word's dictionary meaning with pronunciation guidance, and a curated list of similar 4-letter words grouped by pattern similarity to help you when you're one guess away from the answer.

L

6%

A

22%

V

2%

A

1%

Solve Walkthrough

1
A
B
L
E

0 correct,  2 present,  2 absent

2
H
A
L
F

1 correct,  1 present,  2 absent

3
T
A
I
L

1 correct,  1 present,  2 absent

4
L
A
C
K

2 correct,  0 present,  2 absent

5
L
A
M
P

2 correct,  0 present,  2 absent

6
L
A
V
A

✓ Answer found!

Solved in 6 guesses out of 6

Word Meaning

LAVA /ˈlævə/ US
noun

1. The molten rock ejected by a volcano from its crater or fissured sides.

2. Magma.

Letter Structure

2 vowels (A) 2 consonants (L, V) Repeated: AStarts: L · Ends: A Common letters: 3/4

Strategy Insights

🎯

Opening Word

A
B
L
E

Starting with able to test high-frequency letters. This opener helps eliminate or confirm common letters quickly.

💡

Key Breakthrough

revealed half 1 correct position and 1 present letter .

This breakthrough significantly narrowed down the possibilities, leading toward the solution.

🔍

Elimination Pattern

Letters ruled out during the solve:

B E H F T I C K

Eliminating these 10 letters helped focus on the remaining candidates.

📊

Difficulty Rating

Hard

Solved in 6 guesses Challenging puzzle requiring careful elimination.

Is LAVA a Good Wordle Answer?

LAVA's letters skew uncommon overall: "a" shows up in 34% of 4-letter words in our dictionary, while "v" appears in only 5%. That mix is fairly balanced, so its usefulness as an opener depends more on letter position than raw frequency — a good starting guess wants common letters in their common positions, and LAVA leads with "l", which only sits first in 6% of 4-letter words — worth knowing if you're deciding whether to lead with it. When solving LAVA, the key is to systematically eliminate possibilities by testing high-frequency letters first, then narrowing down based on position feedback. The step-by-step walkthrough below illustrates exactly how an optimal solver would approach this puzzle, showing the reasoning behind each guess and how the feedback from each round informs the next choice. If you're mid-solve and have some of the letters but not the exact arrangement, the similar-words list further down (grouped by shared pattern, start, and ending) is the fastest way to narrow down the last guess — these are real words that share key characteristics, making them ideal candidates when you're running out of guesses.

Letter Analysis

Pos Letter At position In any word
1 l
6% (41 words)
27% (191 words)
2 a
22% (152 words)
34% (243 words)
3 v
2% (12 words)
5% (32 words)
4 a
1% (6 words)
34% (243 words)

Letter Heatmap for 4-Letter Words

How often each letter appears in 4-letter words in our dictionary. Letters highlighted in the answer word are shown in green.

Q 0%
W 11%
E 43%
R 24%
T 25%
Y 5%
U 12%
I 23%
O 28%
P 13%
A 34%
S 22%
D 17%
F 10%
G 8%
H 12%
J 1%
K 10%
L 27%
Z 2%
X 0%
C 11%
V 5%
B 5%
N 21%
M 14%

Similar Words — Useful for When You're Close

FAQ — LAVA as a Wordle Answer

Is LAVA a good Wordle starting word?

It tests a (34%), v (5%), a (34%), which are a mixed bag of common and uncommon letters in 4-letter words. "L" leading the word is less common in that position (6%), which is worth weighing against its overall letter coverage.

How common is the letter "L" at the start of 4-letter words?

Among the 706 words of this length in our dictionary, "L" opens 41 of them (6%). That makes it a relatively unusual opening letter, so don't assume most answers start this way.

What does "LAVA" mean?

As a noun, lava means: The molten rock ejected by a volcano from its crater or fissured sides.

Is LAVA hard to guess in Wordle?

Our solver rates LAVA as "Very Hard" difficulty, with a typical solve rate of about 15% within six guesses. The repeated letter is the main trap — it's easy to assume every letter is unique and misallocate a guess.

What words are similar to LAVA?

We found 0 words matching the same letter pattern, 8 sharing its first two letters, and 0 sharing its last two — see the full breakdown in the "Similar Words" section below, useful when you're one guess away from the answer.

Try it yourself!

Play Wordle Unlimited with 4-letter words.

Play Now →