Today's Wordle 438 answer and hint: Wednesday, August 31

Today's Wordle puzzle on a smartphone

Whether you're looking for the answer to today's Wordle or you'd just like to read a few tips to set you in the right direction, you'll find all of that as well as links to our helpful Wordle guides just a short scroll away.

It's the end of the month and that means it's more or less the end of the summer in my part of the world too. How has the season treated your Wordle score? Has the hot weather fired up your imagination or fried your puzzle-solving mind? Whatever's happened, I hope you've had fun.

Wordle hint

Today's Wordle: A hint for Wednesday, August 31

From local raffles to international challenges, competition winners usually receive today's word for their efforts in the form of cash, trophies, medals, or any other desirable item. These can also be awarded for effort or excellence too, for example, the best book of the year in a chosen category. There's an uncommon consonant in the answer, so be brave. 

Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day 

If there's one thing better than playing Wordle, it's playing Wordle well, which is why I'm going to share a few quick tips to help set you on the path to success:

  • A good opener contains a balanced mix of unique vowels and consonants. 
  • A tactical second guess helps to narrow down the pool of letters quickly.
  • The solution may contain repeat letters.

There's no time pressure beyond making sure it's done by midnight. So there's no reason to not treat the game like a casual newspaper crossword and come back to it later if you're coming up blank.

Wordle answer

Wordle today

(Image credit: Josh Wardle)

What is the Wordle 438 answer?

Are you ready to win? The answer to the August 31 (438) Wordle is PRIZE.

Previous answers

Wordle archive: Which words have been used

The more past Wordle answers you can cram into your memory banks, the better your chances of guessing today's Wordle answer without accidentally picking a solution that's already been used. Past Wordle answers can also give you some excellent ideas for fun starting words that keep your daily puzzle solving fresh.

Here are some recent Wordle solutions:

  • August 30: ONSET
  • August 29: CHIEF
  • August 28: GAUZE
  • August 27: RUDER
  • August 26: IRONY
  • August 25: CLOWN
  • August 24: NEEDY
  • August 23: WOVEN
  • August 22: MERIT
  • August 21: WASTE

Learn more about Wordle 

Every day Wordle presents you with six rows of five boxes, and it's up to you to work out which secret five-letter word is hiding inside them.

You'll want to start with a strong word like ALERT—something containing multiple vowels, common consonants, and no repeat letters. Hit Enter and 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.

You'll want your second go to compliment the first, 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.

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'll find those below.

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. 

Kerry Brunskill
Contributing Writer

When baby Kerry was brought home from the hospital her hand was placed on the space bar of the family Atari 400, a small act of parental nerdery that has snowballed into a lifelong passion for gaming and the sort of freelance job her school careers advisor told her she couldn't do. She's now PC Gamer's word game expert, taking on the daily Wordle puzzle to give readers a hint each and every day. Her Wordle streak is truly mighty.


Somehow Kerry managed to get away with writing regular features on old Japanese PC games, telling today's PC gamers about some of the most fascinating and influential games of the '80s and '90s.