The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
SHUT
Definition of SHUT
verb
To close, in various senses. To remove or block an opening, gap or passage through.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English schitten, schetten, from Old English sċyttan (“to cause rapid movement, shoot a bolt, shut, bolt”), from Proto-West Germanic *skuttjan, from Proto-Germanic *skutjaną, *skuttijaną (“to bar, bolt”), from Proto-Germanic *skuttą, *skuttjō (“bar, bolt, shed”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewd- (“to drive, fall upon, rush”). The Modern English word was originally a dialect form; the Old English word would have normally merged with shit. Cognate with Dutch schutten (“to shut in, lock up”), Low German schütten (“to shut, lock in”), German schützen (“to shut out, dam, protect, guard”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.3%
of traced words share this origin (11,293)
How it is built
Same root, SHUT · 8 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Dutch.
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
SHUT in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 12 boards so far. 11 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 28, 17 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 116, 13 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 44 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 28, 17 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
SHUT starts with S and ends with T. Sorted, its letters read HSTU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
3 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start SHUT
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 28
Could you have found SHUT?
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 28 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER