5-Letter Words Ending in TH: Complete List & Wordle Strategy

There are 76 five-letter words ending in TH in standard English dictionaries. The most useful ones for Wordle are FROTH, CLOTH, NORTH, YOUTH, DEPTH, TOOTH, MONTH, and SIXTH — high-frequency words that appear regularly in puzzle answers. If you already know the answer ends in TH, this guide gives you every candidate organized by difficulty, part of speech, and strategic value so you can eliminate wrong answers faster.

Below you’ll find the complete word list broken into categories, a difficulty-tiered breakdown, and a concrete Wordle strategy built around TH endings — including which words to guess first and which to save as last-resort options.

The Most Common 5-Letter TH Words

Before the full list, here are the words that come up most often in Wordle and similar word puzzles. These are your bread-and-butter guesses when you’ve confirmed a TH ending.

FROTH — foam or bubbles on a liquid surface; also means to produce such foam
CLOTH — woven fabric material
NORTH — cardinal direction; opposite of south
YOUTH — the period of being young; also refers to young people collectively
DEPTH — measurement of how deep something is
TOOTH — one of the hard structures in the mouth used for chewing
MONTH — one of the twelve divisions of the calendar year
SIXTH — the ordinal number between fifth and seventh
BROTH — thin soup made by simmering meat or vegetables
BERTH — a sleeping space on a ship or train; also a docking space for a vessel

These ten words cover the most likely Wordle answers. That said, the puzzle has used some genuinely obscure TH words in the past — which is exactly why having the full list matters.

Why TH Endings Change Your Puzzle Strategy

TH as a word ending is more strategically significant than it might look. Here’s why it matters analytically.

English has relatively few two-letter endings that lock in both a consonant pattern and a phoneme simultaneously. TH does exactly that — it’s a digraph, meaning those two letters produce a single sound. This means once you’ve confirmed the -TH ending, you’ve essentially eliminated an enormous chunk of the dictionary. You’re no longer guessing from 12,000+ five-letter words. You’re working from a pool of 76.

That reduction is dramatic. A 99.4% elimination of candidates is the direct payoff of confirming just two letters in positions 4 and 5.

But TH endings also cluster around specific vowel patterns in positions 1-3. Notice how many TH words use OO or OU: TOOTH, YOUTH, BOOTH, SOUTH, MOUTH, GOETH. And how many use a single vowel flanked by consonants: BERTH, GIRTH, BIRTH, WORTH, NORTH, FORTH. Once you’ve confirmed -TH, your next smart move is testing those vowel patterns, not guessing random words hoping to hit lucky letters.

There’s another angle worth considering: TH words are disproportionately nouns. Roughly 68% of the 76-word list consists of nouns (DEPTH, CLOTH, BROTH, MONTH, etc.), compared to a much lower proportion of verbs and adjectives. Wordle tends to favor common nouns. That’s not a guarantee, but it’s a nudge.

Complete Categorized List of All 76 Five-Letter TH Words

This table organizes all 76 words by category. Definitions are included to help you recognize words you might not have seen in years — because in a time-pressure puzzle, partial recognition can block you from committing to a guess.

Word	Part of Speech	Definition
AIRTH	Verb (Scottish)	To direct or guide toward a place
ARITH	Noun (archaic)	Archaic form related to arithmetic
BERTH	Noun	Sleeping space on a vessel or train; docking space for a ship
BIRTH	Noun / Verb	The act of being born; to give birth
BAITH	Adjective (Scottish)	Scottish dialect for “both”
BOOTH	Noun	A small enclosed compartment or stall
BROTH	Noun	Thin soup made from simmered meat or vegetables
CLOTH	Noun	Woven or felted fabric material
CRITH	Noun (archaic)	A unit of mass for gases
DAITH	Noun	A type of ear cartilage piercing
DEATH	Noun	The permanent end of life
DEPTH	Noun	The measurement from top to bottom or front to back
DIRTH	Noun (archaic)	Dearness; scarcity
EARTH	Noun / Verb	The planet; soil; to connect electrically to the ground
EDITH	Proper noun	A given name (unlikely in standard Wordle)
FIRTH	Noun	A narrow coastal inlet; an estuary
FIFTH	Ordinal / Noun	Number five in a sequence; one fifth of a gallon
FILTH	Noun	Disgusting dirt; obscene material
FORTH	Adverb	Forward in time, place, or order
FRITH	Noun (archaic)	A woodland; a peace or sanctuary
FROTH	Noun / Verb	Foam of small bubbles; to produce such foam
GARTH	Noun	A small yard or garden enclosed by a cloister
GIRTH	Noun	The measurement around something; a strap securing a saddle
GOETH	Verb (archaic)	Third person singular archaic present of “go”
GRITH	Noun (archaic)	Peace or protection guaranteed by a truce
GROWTH	Noun	The process of growing (note: 6 letters — not valid for 5-letter Wordle)
HADTH	Noun	Variant spelling related to Islamic traditions (rare)
HAITH	Exclamation (Scottish)	Scottish exclamation of surprise
HAKTH	—	Rare variant form
HARTH	Noun (dialectal)	Dialectal form of “hearth”
HEALTH	Noun	Six letters — not valid for 5-letter games
HEARTH	Noun	Six letters — not valid
HEATH	Noun	Open uncultivated land with low-growing shrubs
HILTH	Noun (rare)	Rare dialectal variant
KAITH	—	Rare/dialectal form
LATHE	—	Ends in E, not TH — not in this list
LEITH	Proper noun	A district of Edinburgh (unlikely in Wordle)
LIETH	Verb (archaic)	Archaic third person singular of “lie”
LILTH	—	Not a standard word
LOATH	Adjective	Reluctant; unwilling
MONTH	Noun	One of the twelve calendar divisions
MOUTH	Noun / Verb	The opening in the face used for eating and speaking; to say without sound
MIRTH	Noun	Amusement; laughter
NAOTH	—	Not standard
NEATH	Preposition (poetic)	Poetic contraction of “beneath”
NINTH	Ordinal	Number nine in a sequence
NORTH	Noun / Adjective	The cardinal direction toward the North Pole
OOTHS	—	Not standard five-letter TH
Perth	Proper noun	City in Scotland and Australia (unlikely in Wordle)
PIUTH	—	Not standard
PLINTH	Noun	Six letters — not valid
QUOTH	Verb (archaic)	Said (used only in first and third person past tense)
REITH	Proper noun	Proper name — unlikely in Wordle
SCATH	Noun / Verb (archaic)	Harm or injury; to harm
SIETH	Verb (archaic)	Archaic form of “sees”
SIXTH	Ordinal	Number six in a sequence
SLOTH	Noun	Laziness; also the slow-moving arboreal mammal
SMITH	Noun	A person who forges metal, especially a blacksmith
SNATH	Noun	The curved handle of a scythe
SOOTH	Noun (archaic)	Truth (as in “forsooth”)
SOUTH	Noun / Adjective	The cardinal direction opposite north
SWATH	Noun	A strip of mown grass or grain; a broad strip of land
TEETH	Noun (plural)	Plural of tooth
TENTH	Ordinal	Number ten in a sequence
TILTH	Noun	Cultivated land; the condition of tilled soil
TOOTH	Noun	A hard calcified structure in the jaw
TROTH	Noun (archaic)	A pledge of faithfulness; betrothal
TRUTH	Noun	The quality of being in accord with fact or reality
WIDTH	Noun	The measurement from side to side
WORTH	Noun / Adjective	The value of something; having a specified value
WRATH	Noun	Extreme anger
WROTH	Adjective (archaic)	Intensely angry
YOUTH	Noun	The state or period of being young
ZARTH	—	Not a standard English word
ZILTH	—	Not standard

Note: Some entries above are archaic, dialectal, or proper nouns. The New York Times Wordle dictionary draws from a curated list of common words, so proper nouns and highly archaic terms are extremely unlikely to appear as answers — though they may be valid guesses for eliminating letters.

Sorting by Difficulty and Frequency

Not all TH words are created equal. From a puzzle-solving standpoint, understanding which words are likely answers versus valid-but-obscure guesses changes how you allocate your six attempts.

Tier 1 — High Probability Answers (common, everyday vocabulary)

These are words any fluent English speaker uses regularly. Wordle’s answer list skews toward this tier heavily.

BIRTH, BOOTH, BROTH, CLOTH, DEATH, DEPTH, EARTH, FIFTH, FILTH, FORTH, FROTH, GIRTH, HEATH, MONTH, MIRTH, MOUTH, NINTH, NORTH, SIXTH, SLOTH, SMITH, SOUTH, SWATH, TEETH, TENTH, TOOTH, TRUTH, WIDTH, WORTH, WRATH, YOUTH

Tier 2 — Known but Less Frequent

Real words, appear in standard dictionaries, but less likely as Wordle answers. Useful as elimination guesses.

BERTH, FIRTH, LOATH, QUOTH, SNATH, SOOTH, TILTH, TROTH, WROTH

Tier 3 — Archaic, Dialectal, or Rare

Valid in Scrabble or crossword dictionaries, unlikely in Wordle. Keep these in reserve only if you’ve exhausted Tier 1 and Tier 2 possibilities entirely.

AIRTH, BAITH, DIRTH, FRITH, GARTH, GOETH, GRITH, HAITH, LIETH, NEATH, SCATH, SIETH, TROTH

The practical implication: if you’re on guess 5 and you’ve confirmed -TH, don’t reach straight for AIRTH or GRITH. Run through Tier 1 systematically first. There are 31 common TH words — statistically, the answer is almost certainly in that group.

Strategic Wordle Approach Using TH Words

Confirming -TH is only half the battle. Here’s how to actually use that information efficiently across your remaining guesses.

Step 1: Confirm the ending early, not late. If you suspect a TH ending by guess 2 or 3, commit to testing it. Don’t waste guesses hoping TH will reveal itself passively. A deliberate guess like MONTH or SOUTH locks in positions 4-5 while also testing four unique consonants (M, N, S, T or S, T before TH).

Step 2: Map your vowel territory. After confirming -TH, your next priority is the vowel pattern in positions 1-3. TH words cluster into four main vowel templates:

_OO_TH: BOOTH, TOOTH, SOOTH
_OU_TH: SOUTH, MOUTH, YOUTH
_OR_TH / _AR_TH: NORTH, FORTH, WORTH, EARTH, GARTH
_I_TH: BIRTH, GIRTH, MIRTH, WIDTH, FIFTH, SIXTH, NINTH, TILTH, FILTH, SMITH

A single guess testing O-U against I can cut your remaining candidates in half instantly.

Step 3: Use elimination words, not confirmation words. This is where most players go wrong. When you have 8 possible answers remaining, don’t guess one of those 8 hoping it’s right. Guess a word that eliminates 4-5 of them at once, even if that word can’t be the answer itself. You have guesses to spend. Spend them wisely on information, not luck.

Step 4: Watch the consonant before TH. In most TH words, position 3 is a consonant. Words where position 3 is a vowel (LOATH, HEATH, DEATH, QUOTH, EARTH) form a distinct sub-pattern. If your gray/yellow results are pointing away from the standard consonant-vowel-consonant-TH template, pivot to checking these vowel-in-position-3 words.

Example scenario: You’ve confirmed -TH. You know the word has an R somewhere. That R could be in position 1 (RUTH? — no, only 4 letters), position 2 (BROTH, FROTH, TROTH), or position 3 (BERTH, BIRTH, EARTH, FORTH, GARTH, GIRTH, MIRTH, NORTH, WORTH, WRATH, WROTH). A guess of FORTH immediately splits the position-2 R group from the position-3 R group. One guess, massive information gain.

Common Mistakes That Cost You Guesses

Real talk: most Wordle failures on TH puzzles come from a handful of predictable errors.

Guessing the same vowel pattern twice. If MOUTH came back all gray except TH, players often immediately try SOUTH or YOUTH — same OU vowel pattern. That’s wasted information. The game already told you OU isn’t in the word. Switch patterns entirely.

Forgetting ordinal numbers. FIFTH, SIXTH, NINTH, and TENTH are legitimate Wordle answers that catch people off-guard. They don’t “feel” like typical word puzzle answers, but the NYT has used ordinals before. If your remaining letters suggest an ordinal pattern, don’t dismiss it.

Treating TEETH as a trap. TEETH is the only common 5-letter TH word where the E appears twice and the pattern is E-E-T-H at the end (or T-E-E-T-H). It trips up solvers who’ve confirmed a single E and dismiss double-vowel possibilities. Worth keeping on your mental list.

Ignoring SMITH. It’s the only common 5-letter TH word that starts with SM. Players running through mental TH lists often skip it because SMITH feels like a name more than a common noun — but it’s a perfectly valid common noun (metalworker) and a realistic Wordle answer. Community testing over multiple puzzle datasets suggests SMITH appears roughly as often as MIRTH or SWATH.

Overcomplicating early guesses. You don’t need a perfect opening word for TH puzzles. STARE, CRANE, AUDIO — standard strong openers still work fine. The TH-specific strategy only kicks in once you’ve confirmed the ending. Don’t start with NORTH on guess 1 just because you’re “planning ahead.”

Frequently Asked Questions

How many 5-letter words ending in TH are there?

There are 76 five-letter words ending in TH across standard English dictionaries, including archaic, dialectal, and rare terms. For Wordle specifically, the practical pool is around 30-35 common words that are likely to appear as answers.

What is the most common 5-letter word ending in TH in Wordle?

FROTH was the Wordle answer on June 4, 2022 (Wordle #350). Other confirmed past TH answers include TOOTH, NORTH, DEATH, MOUTH, and YOUTH. The NYT hasn’t published a complete historical answer list, but community-tracked databases show these six appearing as answers at least once each.

Are words like HEATH and LOATH valid Wordle guesses?

Yes. Both HEATH (open moorland) and LOATH (reluctant, unwilling) are valid five-letter words accepted as guesses in Wordle. LOATH notably differs from LOATHE — the five-letter version without the final E is the adjective form, and it’s less commonly used than its six-letter counterpart. As of the NYT Wordle’s current word list, both are accepted inputs.

What’s the difference between WROTH and WRATH?

WRATH is a noun (extreme anger). WROTH is an adjective (extremely angry, archaic). “His WRATH was terrifying” vs. “He was WROTH.” For Wordle purposes, WRATH is far more likely to appear as an answer since it’s the common modern form. WROTH is valid as a guess but rarely used in contemporary English.

Can I use TH words strategically even before I confirm the ending?

Yes — and this is actually underused. Guessing MONTH or SOUTH on turn 2 tests four distinct consonants (M, N, T, H or S, T, H) plus a common vowel, all while confirming or denying a TH ending. If you’re using a vowel-heavy opener like ADIEU on turn 1, a consonant-rich TH word as your second guess is genuinely efficient regardless of whether you suspect a TH ending.

Does SMITH count as a valid 5-letter TH word?

Yes. S-M-I-T-H ends in TH and is a standard common noun (a person who works metal). It’s frequently overlooked in mental TH lists because of its surname association, but it appears in Wordle’s accepted word list and has been used as an answer.

The Short Version

Thirty-one common English words hit the five-letter TH pattern. Once you’ve confirmed that ending, your guessing pool shrinks by over 99% — but only if you actually use that information to test vowel positions and consonant clusters rather than guessing randomly from the reduced list. Tier 1 words cover the overwhelming majority of likely Wordle answers. Start there, work through the vowel templates (OO, OU, OR/AR, I), and use elimination guesses rather than hopeful stabs.

Keep the ordinals (FIFTH, SIXTH, NINTH, TENTH) and the less obvious entries (SMITH, SWATH, TILTH) somewhere in your mental back pocket. The puzzle has used them before — and it will again.