The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
MAVEN
Definition of MAVEN
noun
An expert in a given field; also, a person who is interested in and knowledgeable about a particular activity or thing; an aficionado.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Yiddish מבֿין (meyvn, “connoisseur, expert, know-it-all”), from Hebrew מֵבִין (mevín, “one who understands, connoisseur, expert”), from הֵבִין (hevín, “to understand”). The word is said to have been popularized by its use in an advertising campaign for Vita Herring launched in the United States in 1964, which had a character called the “beloved [herring] maven” promoting the product.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
17th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
0.7%
of traced words share this origin (513)
branch · 2.1% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, MAVEN · 5 relatives in the game
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
MAVEN in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 59 boards so far. 218 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 30, 19 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 156, 23 October 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First ever to find it
on Day 30, 19 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
MAVEN starts with M and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read AEMNV - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Also seen on Day 30
Could you have found MAVEN?
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