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LYNX

/lɪŋks/4 letters

Definition of LYNX

noun

Any of several medium-sized wild cats of the genus Lynx.

Wiktionary · CC BY-SA

Where it comes from

From Middle English lynx, linx, lenx, lynce, from Latin lynx, from Ancient Greek λύγξ (lúnx), from Proto-Hellenic *lúnks, from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“white; light; bright”), because of the cat's seemingly glowing eyes and ability to see in the dark. Doublet of onza and ounce. Displaced English los; Middle English lusk (“lynx”), from Old English lox (“lynx”) as the animal died out in Britain during the Middle Ages.

Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).

Word DNA

Line of descent

  1. Proto-Indo-European
  2. Ancient Greek
  3. Latin
  4. Middle English
  5. English

4 recorded generations before English.

Proto-Indo-European

Deepest traced root

2nd

of 59 source languages in OUTLIER

14.2%

of traced words share this origin (11,769)

How it is built

noun1 syllable

Same root, LYNX · 1 relative in the game

Its etymology also names Old English.

Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →

Rarity score
Withheld
Revealed only in play
Tier
Withheld
Find it yourself

OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.

LYNX in OUTLIER

Players have found it on 24 boards so far. 146 players have found it across Outlier's history.

Day 1Day 166
Its 24 boards, across 166 finished boards · taller bars are busier boards
24
Boards found on
16
First board
164
Latest board
33
Longest gap, days

It first turned up on Day 16, 5 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 164, 31 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 2 days.

First ever to find it

keeleyrie

on Day 32, 21 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers

Built from these letters

LYNX
4
Letters
0
Vowels
4
Consonants
4
Different letters
4
Longest consonant run
0
Longest vowel run

LYNX starts with L and ends with X. Sorted, its letters read LNXY - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram. It uses X - among the least common letters in written English.

Words that start LYNX

Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.

LYNXESLYNXLIKE

Could you have found LYNX?

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 16 - and most players walked straight past it.

Play today's OUTLIER