The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.

CURL

/kɜːl/4 letters

Definition of CURL

noun

A curving piece or lock of hair; a ringlet.

Wiktionary · CC BY-SA

Where it comes from

From metathesis of Middle English crulle (“curled, curly”), of uncertain origin but probably from an unrecorded Old English word or from Middle Dutch crul, crulle (“curl”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kruzlǭ (“bent or crooked object, curl”), connected to *krūsą (“curl”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Krulle (“curl, lock”), West Frisian krul (“curl”), Dutch krul (“curl”), German Low German Krull (“curl”), dialectal German Krolle (“curl”), Danish krølle (“curl”), Norwegian Bokmål krøll (“curl”). Related also to Saterland Frisian Kruus (“curl”), German kraus (“frizzy, crumpled, curly”), Danish krus (“curl”), Swedish krusa (“to crimp, curl”). Compare also Gothic 𐌺𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌽 (kriustan, “to grind, crush, gnash”).

Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).

Rarity score
Withheld
Revealed only in play
Tier
Withheld
Find it yourself

OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.

CURL in OUTLIER

Players have found it on 3 boards so far.

Day 1Day 122
Its 3 boards, across 122 finished boards · taller bars are busier boards
3
Boards found on
77
First board
113
Latest board
21
Longest gap, days

It first turned up on Day 77, 5 August 2026. The most recent board was Day 113, 10 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 9 days.

First ever to find it

chxrl

on Day 77, 5 August 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers

Built from these letters

CURL
4
Letters
1
Vowels
3
Consonants
4
Different letters
2
Longest consonant run
1
Longest vowel run

CURL starts with C and ends with L. Sorted, its letters read CLRU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.

Words that start CURL

Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.

Could you have found CURL?

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 77 - and most players walked straight past it.

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