The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
BACK
Definition of BACK
adjective
At or near the rear.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English bak, from Old English bæc, from Proto-West Germanic *bak, from Proto-Germanic *baką, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- (“to bend”). The adverb represents an aphetic form of aback. Compare Middle Low German bak (“back”), from Old Saxon bak, and West Frisian bekling (“chair back”), Old High German bah, Swedish and Norwegian bak. Cognate with German Bache (“sow [adult female hog]”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
3rd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
8.8%
of traced words share this origin (2,661)
How it is built
Same root, BACK · 4 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Middle Low German, Norwegian, Swedish.
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.
BACK in OUTLIER
It has fitted 55 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 3, 24 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 148, 15 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 5 days.
First found by a player on Day 54, 13 July 2026.
Built from these letters
BACK starts with B and ends with K. Sorted, its letters read ABCK - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start BACK
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 3
Could you have found BACK?
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 3 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER