At a glance

Most common: CURRY, CHILI, BASIL. Rarest: CHIVE, SUMAC, ANISE. 8 have been a Wordle answer (CURRY, CHILI, BASIL, THYME, CUMIN, CLOVE…).

Five-letter herbs and spices (10)

WordRarityWordle
CURRYRare#1830
CHILIRare#1808
BASILRare#1737
THYMEEpic#452
CUMINEpic#1059
CLOVEEpic#1343
CAPEREpic#801
ANISELegendary—
SUMACLegendary#1674
CHIVELegendary—

Four-letter herbs and spices (5)

SALT, MINT, SAGE, MACE, DILL

Questions

What is the most common five-letter herb or spice?

CURRY, followed by CHILI and BASIL, by how often they appear in written English.

What is the rarest five-letter herb or spice?

CHIVE is the rarest on this list, then SUMAC and ANISE. In Wordillion a word that rare scores Legendary.

Which five-letter herbs and spices have been Wordle answers?

CURRY (#1830), CHILI (#1808), BASIL (#1737), THYME (#452), CUMIN (#1059), CLOVE (#1343), CAPER (#801), SUMAC (#1674).

Rarity is how often a word appears in a large sample of written English (the wordfreq dataset), the same measure Wordillion scores with. “Wordle” shows the puzzle number if the word has been a New York Times Wordle answer, or “possible answer” if it is on the answer list but has not come up yet.