The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
BRAINSTEM
Definition of BRAINSTEM
noun
Alternative spelling of brain stem.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Word DNA
BRAINSTEM inherits its ancestry from its root, BRAIN.
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.4%
of traced words share this origin (11,166)
How it is built
Same root, BRAIN · 7 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Ancient Greek, Dutch, Scots.
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.
BRAINSTEM in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 28 boards so far. 40 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 26, 15 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 150, 17 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 5 days.
First found by a player on Day 26, 15 June 2026.
Built from these letters
BRAINSTEM starts with B and ends with M. Sorted, its letters read ABEIMNRST - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
One other word uses exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start BRAINS
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 26
Could you have found BRAINSTEM?
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 26 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER