The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
NEEDLY
Definition of NEEDLY
adverb
Zealously; carefully; earnestly.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English needely, neodliche, from Old English nēodlīċe (“eagerly, earnestly, carefully, zealously, diligently, sedulously; greatly”); equivalent to need (“desire”) + -ly. Cognate with Old Saxon niudlīko (“zealously, carefully”), German niedlich (“desirable, appealing, lovely, cute”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Old English
- Middle English
- English
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
6th
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
4.2%
of traced words share this origin (1,217)
branch · 22.3% of traced words
How it is built
Its etymology also names German.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
NEEDLY in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 8 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 64, 23 July 2026. The most recent board was Day 132, 29 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 16 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 64, 23 July 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
NEEDLY starts with N and ends with Y. Sorted, its letters read DEELNY - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. E appears more than once, including a double letter.
Could you have found NEEDLY?
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 64 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER