The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
HEADWATER
Definition of HEADWATER
noun
The source (and the initial part) of a stream.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From head + water.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
HEADWATER in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 3 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 75, 3 August 2026. The most recent board was Day 100, 28 August 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 2 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 82, 10 August 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
HEADWATER starts with H and ends with R. Sorted, its letters read AADEEHRTW - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. E and A appear more than once.
Same letters, different word
One other word uses exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start HEADWA
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found HEADWATER?
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 75 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER