The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
ANSWER
Definition of ANSWER
noun
A response or reply; something said or done in reaction to a statement or question.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English answere, andsware, from Old English andswaru (“answer”), from and- (“against”) + swaru (“affirmation”), (from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- (“front, forehead”) and Old English swerian (“to swear”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer-), suggesting an original meaning of "a sworn statement rebutting a charge". The cognates suggest the existence of Proto-Germanic *andaswarō (“a reply to a question”). Cognate with Old Frisian ondser (“answer”), Old Saxon andswōr (“answer”), Danish and Swedish ansvar (“liability, responsibility, answer”), Icelandic andsvar (“answer, response”). Compare also Old English andwyrde (“answer”) (cognate to Dutch antwoord, German Antwort), Old English andcwiss (“reply”), German Schwur (“oath, vow”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
7th
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
3.4%
of traced words share this origin (970)
branch · 22.4% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, ANSWER · 2 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Danish, Dutch, Icelandic, Swedish.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
ANSWER in OUTLIER
It has fitted 1 board so far. 20 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 90, 18 August 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 52 days.
First found by a player on Day 26, 15 June 2026.
Built from these letters
ANSWER starts with A and ends with R. Sorted, its letters read AENRSW - 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 ANSWER
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found ANSWER?
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 90 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER