The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
SWEAL
Definition of SWEAL
verb
To burn slowly.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English swelen, from Old English swelan (“to burn, be burnt up, inflame”) (compare Old English swǣlan (“to burn”)), from Proto-West Germanic *swelan, from Proto-Germanic *swelaną (“to smoulder, burn slowly, create a burningly cold sensation”), from Proto-Indo-European *swel- (“to shine, warm, smoulder, burn”). Cognate with Dutch zwelen (“to smoulder”), Low German swelen (“to smoulder”), German schwelen (“to smoulder”), Icelandic svala (“to cool”). Related to swelter.
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 (11,343)
How it is built
Same root, SWEAL · 2 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Dutch, Icelandic.
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.
SWEAL in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 14 boards so far. 13 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 55, 14 July 2026. The most recent board was Day 159, 26 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 1 day.
First ever to find it
on Day 55, 14 July 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
SWEAL starts with S and ends with L. Sorted, its letters read AELSW - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
4 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start SWEAL
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 55
Could you have found SWEAL?
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 55 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER