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

CURLEW

/ˈkɜːlju/6 letters

Definition of CURLEW

noun

Any of several migratory wading birds in the genus Numenius, remarkable for their long, slender, downcurved bills.

Wiktionary · CC BY-SA

Where it comes from

From Middle English curlew, from Old French courlieu (see French courlis), claimed to be imitative of the bird's cry but apparently assimilated with dialectal *corliu (“runner, messenger”), a variant of coureur (the bird is adept at running).

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.

CURLEW in OUTLIER

Players have found it on 18 boards so far. 33 players have found it across Outlier's history.

Day 1Day 98
Its 18 boards, across 98 finished boards · taller bars are busier boards
18
Boards found on
30
First board
98
Latest board
11
Longest gap, days

It first turned up on Day 30, 19 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 98, 26 August 2026. It was on the latest finished board.

First ever to find it

hildegard

on Day 30, 19 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers

Built from these letters

CURLEW
6
Letters
2
Vowels
4
Consonants
6
Different letters
2
Longest consonant run
1
Longest vowel run

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

Words that start CURLEW

Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.

Could you have found CURLEW?

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 30 - and most players walked straight past it.

Play today's OUTLIER

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