The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
EARWIG
Definition of EARWIG
noun
Any of various insects of the order Dermaptera that have elongated bodies, large membranous wings folded underneath short leathery forewings and a pair of large pincers protruding from the rear of the abdomen.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English erwigge, from Old English ēarwicga, from ēare (“ear”) + wicga (“insect”), so named from the appearance of the hindwings, which are unique in their resemblance to human ears when unfolded. Compare typologically Dutch oorworm, German Ohrwurm, Danish ørentvist; French perce-oreille, Romanian urechelniță; Russian уховёртка (uxovjórtka), Serbo-Croatian uholaža, Slovak ucholak; Lithuanian auslinda (all are cognates via Proto-Indo-European *h₂ows-). Also compare Mongolian чихүүр хорхой (čixüür xorxoj) (<+ чих (čix)), Turkish kulağakaçan (<+ kulak).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Old English
- Middle English
- English
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
7th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
3.7%
of traced words share this origin (2,890)
branch · 22.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, EARWIG · 2 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Danish, Dutch, French, German, Proto-Indo-European, Romanian, Russian, Turkish.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
EARWIG in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 47 boards so far. 80 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 30, 19 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 154, 21 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 6 days.
First found by a player on Day 30, 19 June 2026.
Built from these letters
EARWIG starts with E and ends with G. Sorted, its letters read AEGIRW - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start EARWIG
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 30
Could you have found EARWIG?
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