The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
BOTCH
Definition of BOTCH
verb
To perform (a task) in an incompetent or unacceptable manner; to make a mess of something.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English bocchen (“to mend”), of uncertain origin. Possibly from Old English bōtettan (“to improve; cure; remedy; repair”), related to boot, or from Middle Dutch botsen, butsen, boetsen (“to repair; patch”), related to beat. Doublet of bodge.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Old English
- Middle English
- English
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
7th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
3.7%
of traced words share this origin (2,881)
branch · 22.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, BOTCH · 13 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Middle Dutch.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
BOTCH in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 23 boards so far. 127 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 20, 9 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 150, 17 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 9 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 20, 9 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
BOTCH starts with B and ends with H. Sorted, its letters read BCHOT - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start BOTCH
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 20
Could you have found BOTCH?
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 20 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER