Keep your Wordle win streak going in the right direction no matter how your day goes—the answer is ready and waiting for you just a little way down this page. Prefer a little guidance? You've got it. There's a clue for the May 18 (698) game ready to read below, as well as all the tips and guides you need to make every Wordle a success.
Unearthing one solitary green in the first line didn't feel like a great start. It meant there was still almost an entire keyboard's worth of letters to eliminate, after all. But once I stopped worrying and thought about it, I could see that the letter I had ruled out all sorts of other combinations, and I ended up comfortably clearing today's Wordle by the halfway mark.
Today's Wordle hint
A Wordle hint for Thursday, May 18
Your Wordle answer today refers to the act of removing something important—physical or otherwise—from someone, such as their power, dignity, or beauty. On a lighter note, you'd also reach for this word when discussing sheared sheep. You only need to uncover one vowel today.
Is there a double letter in today's Wordle?
There are no repeat letters in today's Wordle.
Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day
If you're new to the daily Wordle puzzle or you just want a refresher after taking a break, I'll share some quick tips to help you win. There's nothing quite like a small victory to set you up for the rest of the day.
- A mix of unique consonants and vowels makes for a solid opening word.
- A tactical second guess should let you narrow down the pool of letters quickly.
- There may be a repeat letter in the answer.
You're not up against a timer, so you've got all the time in the world—well, until midnight—to find the winning word. If you're stuck, there's no shame in coming back to the puzzle later in the day and finishing it up when you've cleared your head.
Today's Wordle answer
What is the #698 Wordle answer?
There's no shame in needing a little help. The answer to the May 18 (698) Wordle is SHORN.
Previous Wordle answers
The last 10 Wordle answers
Keeping track of the last handful of Wordle answers can help to eliminate current possibilities. It's also handy for inspiring opening words or subsequent guesses if you're short on ideas for the day.
Here are the last 10 Wordle answers:
- May 17: PLANK
- May 16: LATTE
- May 15: CANOE
- May 14: SCARF
- May 13: ACRID
- May 12: SNACK
- May 11: BROOM
- May 10: ETHIC
- May 9: COCOA
- May 8: AGLOW
Learn more about Wordle
Wordle presents you with six rows of five boxes every day and the aim is to figure out the correct five-letter word by entering guesses and eliminating or confirming individual letters.
Getting off to a good start with a strong word like ARISE—something containing multiple vowels, common consonants, and no repeat letters—is a good tactic. Once you hit Enter, the boxes will show you which letters you've got right or wrong. If a box turns ⬛️, it means that letter isn't in the secret word at all. 🟨 means the letter is in the word, but not in that position. 🟩 means you've got the right letter in the right spot.
Your second guess should compliment the starting word, using another "good" word to cover any common letters you missed last time while also trying to avoid any letter you now know for a fact isn't present in today's answer. With a bit of luck, you should have some coloured squares to work with and set you on the right path.
After that, it's just a case of using what you've learned to narrow your guesses down to the right word. You have six tries in total and can only use real words (so no filling the boxes with EEEEE to see if there's an E). Don't forget letters can repeat too (ex: BOOKS).
If you need any further advice feel free to check out our Wordle tips, and if you'd like to find out which words have already been used, you can scroll to the relevant section above.
Originally, Wordle was dreamed up by software engineer Josh Wardle, as a surprise for his partner who loves word games. From there it spread to his family, and finally got released to the public. The word puzzle game has since inspired tons of games like Wordle, refocusing the daily gimmick around music or math or geography. It wasn't long before Wordle became so popular it was sold to the New York Times for seven figures. Surely it's only a matter of time before we all solely communicate in tricolor boxes.
