The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.

BACKGROUND

/ˈbæk.(ɡ)ɹaʊnd/10 letters

Definition of BACKGROUND

adjective

Less important or less noticeable in a scene or system.

Wiktionary · CC BY-SA

Where it comes from

From back + ground. Compare backstory.

Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).

Word DNA

How it is built

adjective2 syllablescompound

Same root, BACKGROUND · 1 relative in the game

The Word DNA of OUTLIER →

Rarity score
Withheld
Revealed only in play
Tier
Withheld
Find it yourself

OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.

BACKGROUND in OUTLIER

Players have found it on 11 boards so far. 18 players have found it across Outlier's history.

Day 1Day 148
Its 11 boards, across 148 finished boards · taller bars are busier boards
11
Boards found on
22
First board
144
Latest board
32
Longest gap, days

It first turned up on Day 22, 11 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 144, 11 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 4 days.

First ever to find it

professorhoward

on Day 22, 11 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers

Built from these letters

BACKGROUND
10
Letters
3
Vowels
7
Consonants
10
Different letters
4
Longest consonant run
2
Longest vowel run

BACKGROUND starts with B and ends with D. Sorted, its letters read ABCDGKNORU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.

Words that start BACKGR

Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.

BACKGROUNDSBACKGROUNDEDBACKGROUNDERBACKGROUNDERSBACKGROUNDING

Could you have found BACKGROUND?

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 22 - and most players walked straight past it.

Play today's OUTLIER