The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
BOUGH
Definition of BOUGH
noun
A tree-branch, usually a primary one directly attached to the trunk.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English bough (“branch of a bush or tree, especially a main branch; limb of an animal or person; something resembling a branch (such as a plant root or branch of a nerve); (figuratively) Christian cross; descendant, offspring”) [and other forms], from Old English bōg, bōh (“tree bough or branch; arm; shoulder”), from Proto-West Germanic *bōgu, from Proto-Germanic *bōguz (“shoulder; upper arm”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂ǵʰús (“arm”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Bouch, West Frisian boech, Dutch boeg, German Low German Boog, German Bug, Danish bov, Icelandic bógur, and distantly with Ancient Greek πῆχυς (pêkhus, “forearm, cubit, etc.”). Doublet of bow ("front of a ship, prow").
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.2%
of traced words share this origin (11,700)
How it is built
Same root, BOUGH · 10 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Ancient Greek, Danish, Dutch, Icelandic.
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.
BOUGH in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 64 boards so far. 179 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 4, 25 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 165, 1 November 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 4, 25 May 2026.
Built from these letters
BOUGH starts with B and ends with H. Sorted, its letters read BGHOU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start BOUGH
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 4
Could you have found BOUGH?
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 4 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER