Today's Wordle 577 answer and hint for Tuesday, January 17

Today's Wordle puzzle on a smartphone

All the help you need to find the answer to today's Wordle is just below. I can offer you some easily digested hints and tips, a handcrafted clue designed to push you in the right direction of the January 17 (577) Wordle winner, or if you're looking to finish in record time, today's answer is only a short scroll away.

Today's Wordle spent most of its time as a bit of a mystery, the answer so close yet so far for too many guesses. Luckily for me, I dared to "waste" a guess efficiently confirming/eliminating five as-yet untried letters, and the newly narrowed result was able to guide me towards the right answer—and not a moment too soon.

Wordle hint

A Wordle hint for Tuesday, January 17

The answer today can be used when someone takes up a new style, tone, or attitude, or someone else's way of doing something. This word can also describe the act of voluntarily taking an often unrelated child into a new family on a permanent basis. There are two vowels to find today. 

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.

Today's Wordle answer

Wordle today

(Image credit: Josh Wardle)

What is the Wordle 577 answer?

Here's to another win. The January 17 (577) Wordle answer is ADOPT

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:

  • January 16: FROCK
  • January 15: SPIRE
  • January 14: KOALA
  • January 13: HUMAN
  • January 12: LEAPT
  • January 11: SEDAN
  • January 10: GRIMY
  • January 9: PIXIE
  • January 8: OPERA
  • January 7: LEMON

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.