The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
EARLY
Definition of EARLY
adjective
At a time in advance of the usual or expected event.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English erly, erlich, earlich, from Old English ǣrlīċ (“early”, adjective), equivalent to ere + -ly.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Old English
- Middle English
- English
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
6th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
4.1%
of traced words share this origin (1,232)
branch · 22.3% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, EARLY · 1 relative in the game
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
EARLY in OUTLIER
It has fitted 112 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 4, 25 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 152, 19 October 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 34, 23 June 2026.
Built from these letters
EARLY starts with E and ends with Y. Sorted, its letters read AELRY - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
4 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Also seen on Day 4
Could you have found EARLY?
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 4 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER