The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
BANE
Definition of BANE
noun
A cause of misery or ruin.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
The noun is derived from Middle English bane (“person or thing that destroys life, murderer, slayer; person who destroys the soul; destruction of life, death, doom; poison”), from Old English bana (“person or thing that causes death, murderer”), from Proto-West Germanic *banō, from Proto-Germanic *banô (“killer, murderer, slayer; death, bane”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- (“to slay, kill; to strike”). The verb is derived from the noun.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
BANE in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 27 boards so far. 42 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 8, 29 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 109, 6 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 3 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 8, 29 May 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
BANE starts with B and ends with E. Sorted, its letters read ABEN - 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 BANE
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 8
Could you have found BANE?
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 8 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER