The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
NEEDY
Definition of NEEDY
adjective
In need; poor.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English nedy, nedi (“necessitous”), from Old English nēdiġ, *nīediġ ("of need, obligated, compelled"; found in the derivative nīediġnes (“obligation”)), from Proto-Germanic *naudigaz (“of need, forced, compelled”), equivalent to need + -y. Cognate with Scots nedy, neidy (“needy, necessitous, impoverished”), Saterland Frisian niedich (“miserable, poor, wretched, needy”), Saterland Frisian nöödich (“necessary, needful”), West Frisian nedich (“needful, needed”), Dutch nodig (“necessary”), Middle Low German nōdich (“necessary, urgent, by requirement”), German nötig (“necessary, needful”), Danish nødig (“necessary”), Swedish nödig (“necessary”), Icelandic nauðugur (“constrained”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
7th
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
3.4%
of traced words share this origin (970)
branch · 22.4% of traced words
How it is built
Its etymology also names Danish, Dutch, Icelandic, Middle Low German, Scots, Swedish.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
NEEDY in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 6 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 26, 15 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 120, 17 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 24 days.
First found by a player on Day 26, 15 June 2026.
Built from these letters
NEEDY starts with N and ends with Y. Sorted, its letters read DEENY - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. E appears more than once, including a double letter.
Also seen on Day 26
Could you have found NEEDY?
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 26 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER