The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
MEWL
Definition of MEWL
verb
To cry weakly with a soft, high-pitched sound; to whimper; to whine.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Other senses
MEWL carries 4 further meanings.
intransitive verb
To cry weakly; whimper.
To cry as a cat; mew.
To cry as a child.
noun
The cry of a child.
Where it comes from
From 1599 or earlier (1530 in a Scottish document), apparently from Shakespeare with this spelling. Perhaps from Middle English mewen (“to whimper”) + -le (frequentative suffix).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Middle English
- English
One recorded step before English.
Deepest traced root
4th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
7.6%
of traced words share this origin (2,258)
branch · 22.3% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, MEWL · 4 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.
MEWL in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 38 boards so far. 80 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 30, 19 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 144, 11 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 6 days.
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
MEWL starts with M and ends with L. Sorted, its letters read ELMW - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that mean much the same
Near-synonyms of MEWL. Not interchangeable at the board - the grid decides that - but close in meaning.
Words that start MEWL
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 30
Could you have found MEWL?
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