The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
HEADWIND
Definition of HEADWIND
noun
A wind that blows directly against the course of a vehicle, like an aircraft, train, or ship.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English *hedwind, from Old English hēafodwind, equivalent to head + wind. Cognate with Old Norse höfuðvindr.
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 58 source languages in OUTLIER
4.1%
of traced words share this origin (1,218)
branch · 22.3% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, HEADWIND · 1 relative in the game
Its etymology also names Old Norse.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
HEADWIND in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 1 board so far.
It first turned up on Day 139, 6 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 10 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 139, 6 October 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
HEADWIND starts with H and ends with D. Sorted, its letters read ADDEHINW - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. D appears more than once.
Could you have found HEADWIND?
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 139 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER