The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
SHAWM
Definition of SHAWM
noun
A mediaeval double-reed wind instrument with a conical wooden body.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English shalmuse, from Old French chalemel (modern French chalumeau), from Late Latin calamellus, from Latin calamus (“reed”), from Ancient Greek κάλαμος (kálamos). Doublet of caramel, chalumeau, and qalam, as well as related to calame, calamus, culm, and haulm.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
SHAWM in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 28 boards so far. 28 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 37, 26 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 98, 26 August 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First ever to find it
on Day 37, 26 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
SHAWM starts with S and ends with M. Sorted, its letters read AHMSW - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
2 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start SHAWM
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 37
Could you have found SHAWM?
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 37 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER