The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
WHILOM
Definition of WHILOM
adverb
At some time in the past; formerly, once upon a time.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Other senses
WHILOM carries 4 further meanings.
adjective
Having once been; former.
“the whilom editor in chief.”
adverb
At a past time; formerly.
At times; by times.
Once; formerly; once upon a time.
Where it comes from
From Middle English whilom (“(adverb) at one time, formerly, once; once upon a time; at times, sometimes; at a future time; (conjunction) while”) [and other forms], from Old English hwīlum, hwīlan, hwīlon (“at one time, once; sometimes”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwīlum, the dative plural of *hwīlu (“period of time, time, while; period of rest, pause”), from Proto-Germanic *hwīlō (“period of time, time, while; period of rest, pause”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷyeh₁- (“to rest; peace, rest”). The Oxford English Dictionary regards adverb sense 2.2 (“for some time that has passed”) as “aberrant”.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
3rd
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
8.9%
of traced words share this origin (2,623)
How it is built
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.
WHILOM in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 49 boards so far. 84 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 30, 19 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 148, 15 October 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 30, 19 June 2026.
Built from these letters
WHILOM starts with W and ends with M. Sorted, its letters read HILMOW - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that mean much the same
Near-synonyms of WHILOM. Not interchangeable at the board - the grid decides that - but close in meaning.
Also seen on Day 30
Could you have found WHILOM?
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 30 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER