Taunt - Wordle fans call 444 'unexpectedly daunting'

The word 'taunt' which is a commonly used verb and noun, had some players feeling frustrated

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Wordle has players taking to social media yet again to discuss the difficulty of today's choice of word. The word 'taunt' had players confused due to the number of potential combinations of the letters used in the word. 

On September 6th, the New York Times threw players a curveball, as they were asked to solve the word 'taunt'.

"Today was unexpectedly daunting, I didn't appreciate how many combinations there could be," wrote one Wordle fan on Twitter. 

While another said, "When you get 4 letters in the right place in 2 goes and then still use all 6 goes… Grrr…"

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This isn't the first time that Wordle has stumped players with a hard-to-guess five-letter-word. Words such as quartagapeaphidtrite, and agape, are some of the most recent challenges that have confused fans.

But other fans were more cocky about the challenge, with one writing, "Should have got it in three. Not sure why people finding it hard today."

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Taunt Meaning 

The word taunt may not be one that springs to mind immediately, but it's actually a very common word that can be used as both a noun and a verb. 

A 'taunt' as a noun, means a remark made in order to anger, wound, or provoke someone. While 'taunt' as a verb means to provoke or challenge someone with insulting remarks. One definition in the Oxford Dictionary states that, to 'taunt' is, "to try to make somebody angry or upset by saying unkind things about them, laughing at their failures, etc."

The definition gives this example of the word in use - "The other kids continually taunted him about his size."


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. 

There are also a number of Wordle alternatives that are just like Wordle, but with a slightly different twist to keep things interesting, if you do fancy trying something new. 

Lauren Hughes

Lauren is the former Deputy Digital Editor at woman&home and became a journalist mainly because she enjoys being nosy. With a background in features journalism, Lauren worked on the woman&home brand for four years before going freelance. Before woman&home Lauren worked across a variety of women's lifestyle titles, including GoodTo, Woman's Own, and Woman magazine.