The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
THEW
Definition of THEW
noun
An attractive physical attribute; also, physical, mental, or moral strength or vigour. An aspect of the body which indicates physical strength; hence, muscle and/or sinew; muscular development.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English theu, thew (“way of behaving towards others, bearing, manners; habit, practice; good manners, courtesy; characteristic act; characteristic, trait; custom, tradition; established rule, ordinance; injunction; moral character; (in the plural) set of moral principles, morals; moral quality, virtue or vice; might, power, strength”) [and other forms] (often in the plural form theus, thewes), from Old English þēaw (“general practice of a community, custom, usage; mode of conduct, behaviour, manner; (in the plural) customs, virtue”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *þauw, from Proto-Germanic *þawwaz (“custom; habit”); further etymology uncertain, tentatively identified by the Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen (Etymological Dictionary of Old High German) as a reflex of an s-less variant of Proto-Indo-European *(s)tāu-, *(s)te- (“to stand; to place”), from *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”).
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
14.2%
of traced words share this origin (11,769)
How it is built
Same root, THEW · 6 relatives in the game
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.
THEW in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 52 boards so far. 80 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 21, 10 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 167, 3 November 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 21, 10 June 2026.
Built from these letters
THEW starts with T and ends with W. Sorted, its letters read EHTW - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
One other word uses exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start THEW
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 21
Could you have found THEW?
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 21 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER