The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
ANIMAL
Definition of ANIMAL
noun
A multicellular organism of the kingdom Animalia that is usually mobile, with cells that are not encased in a rigid cell wall (distinguishing them from plants and fungi) and derives energy solely from the consumption of other organisms.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English animal, from Old French animal, from Latin animal, a nominal use of the adjective form animāle, neuter of animālis, from anima (“breath, spirit”). Displaced native English deer (outside puristic usage) in the general animal sense, from Middle English der, deor (“animal”), from Old English dēor, related to German Tier (“animal”), Dutch dier, Danish dyr, Swedish djur etc. Displaced also rother (“horned animal, esp. ox”, now obsolete), from Middle English rother, reother (“a bovine”), from Old English hrīþer, hrȳþer.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
1st
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
33.1%
of traced words share this origin (9,643)
branch · 33.1% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, ANIMAL · 1 relative in the game
Its etymology also names Danish, Dutch, German, Old English, Swedish.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
ANIMAL in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 11 boards so far. 14 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 24, 13 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 145, 12 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 1 day.
First found by a player on Day 24, 13 June 2026.
Built from these letters
ANIMAL starts with A and ends with L. Sorted, its letters read AAILMN - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. A appears more than once.
Same letters, different word
3 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start ANIMAL
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 24
Could you have found ANIMAL?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 24 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER