The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
BRAINIAC
Definition of BRAINIAC
noun
A very intelligent and usually studious, erudite person.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Blend of brain + maniac, with influence from ENIAC, the name of an early computer. The term was coined as the name of the fictional supervillain Brainiac in the Superman series and first appeared in Action Comics comic book #242 in July, 1958. By surface analysis, brainy + -ac.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
How it is built
Same root, BRAINIAC · 1 relative in the game
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
BRAINIAC in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 25 boards so far. 189 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 8, 29 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 143, 10 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 6 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
BRAINIAC starts with B and ends with C. Sorted, its letters read AABCIINR - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. A and I appear more than once.
Words that start BRAINI
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 8
Could you have found BRAINIAC?
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