Coyly - Wordle 409 angers fans as some insist, 'that's not a real word'

The word 'coyly' is the most recent five-letter-word to stump wordle players who were unable to solve this difficult challenge from the New York Times.

Wordle has been known to dig up unusual five-letter words from the dictionary and stump players with unfamiliar words. Words such as quart, agape, aphid, trite, and agape, are some of the most recent challenges to confound fans who love this game. On August 2, 2022, the New York Times threw another similar curveball as players were challenged to solve the word 'coyly'.

Many fans were unfamiliar with this word and insisted that this challenge was not only too tricky, but perhaps 'coyly' was not actually a real word.

Many fans took to social media to complain about this recent challenge, and many agreed that 'coyly' was not a real word.

"I don’t think that’s a word, Wordle. I am very angry. My 34 streak broken. Wordle 409 X/6," said one fan who failed to solve the puzzle.

"I don’t even feel bad about failing todays. I’m not sure it’s even a real word! Wordle 409 X/6" said another. "That's not a real word you can go to hell #Wordle 409 X/6," said yet another player.

Others were simply frustrated that they had ruined their streaks. "Wordle 409 X/6 I've not heard of this word. Will end a few streaks I guess," said one player.

"Wordle 409 X/6* And another streak bites the dust," said another.

"Nooo I broke my streak 88 days straight without messing up," said yet another disappointed fan.

Coyly meaning 

The word coyly stumped a number of fans because they had never heard of the word before. If you were unfamiliar with this word, don't worry! You are not alone. So what does 'coyly' mean?

Coyly is derived from the word coy which means shy, pretending to be shy, or secretive. One definition in the Oxford dictionary (opens in new tab) states that coyly means, "in a way that is shy, or that is pretending to be shy and innocent, especially about love or sex, and sometimes in order to make people more interested in you." For example, "She smiled coyly at him."

The alternative definition for coyly is, "in a way that shows that you are not willing to give information about something, or answer questions that tell people too much about you." For example, "The report coyly insisted that there is very little information about how many applications are 'lost'."

If you are looking to boost your Wordle scores there are a number of Wordle hacks and Wordle tricks, that may help you improve at the online word game. 

If you fancy something a little different instead, there are a number of Wordle alternatives that are just like Wordle, but with a slightly different twist to keep things interesting!