The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
META
Definition of META
noun
Clipping of metagame.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Adjective sense 1 is a back-formation from meta- (prefix). Adjective sense 2 is derived from noun noun sense 1. The noun senses are clippings of various terms beginning with meta (prefix). Folk etymology for noun noun sense 1 also suggests an acronym for most effective/efficient tactic available.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
How it is built
Same root, META · 1 relative 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.
META in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 20 boards so far. 18 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 27, 16 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 166, 2 November 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 27, 16 June 2026.
Built from these letters
META starts with M and ends with A. Sorted, its letters read AEMT - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
4 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start META
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 27
Could you have found META?
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 27 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER