The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
LISTEN
Definition of LISTEN
verb
To use one's sense of hearing and auditory cognition in an intentional way; to make deliberate use of one's ears; to pay attention to or wait for a specific sound.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English listenen, listnen, alteration (due to Middle English listen (“to listen, give heed to”)) of Old English hlysnan (“to listen”), from Proto-Germanic *hlusnijaną, *hlusnōną (compare Middle High German lüsenen), from Proto-Germanic *hlusēną (compare Old High German hlosēn), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- (“to hear”). Cognate with Swedish lyssna (“to listen”). Compare Ancient Greek κλαίω (klaíō, “to make known, famous”), Welsh clywed (“to hear”), Latin clueō (“to be famous”), Lithuanian klausýti, Old Church Slavonic слушати (slušati, “to hear”), Sanskrit श्रोषति (śróṣati, “an exclamation used in making an offering with fire to the gods or departed spirits”) & Sanskrit श्लोक्य (ślókya, “voice, sound, noisy”)). Related to loud and German lauschen.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.4%
of traced words share this origin (11,201)
How it is built
Same root, LISTEN · 3 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Ancient Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, Swedish, Welsh.
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
LISTEN in OUTLIER
It has fitted 1 board so far. 12 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 118, 15 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 38 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 16, 5 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
LISTEN starts with L and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read EILNST - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
6 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start LISTEN
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found LISTEN?
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 118 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER