The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
CILIA
Definition of CILIA
noun
plural of cilium
noun
A short microscopic hairlike organelle projecting from a eukaryotic cell (such as a unicellular organism or one cell of a multicelled organism) which serve either for propulsion by causing currents in the surrounding fluid or as sensors.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Latin cilia; by surface analysis, cili(um) + -a.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Latin
- English
One recorded step before English.
Deepest traced root
1st
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
30.6%
of traced words share this origin (25,170)
branch · 30.6% of traced words
How it is built
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
CILIA in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 69 boards so far. 356 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 9, 29 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 165, 1 November 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First ever to find it
on Day 9, 29 May 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
CILIA starts with C and ends with A. Sorted, its letters read ACIIL - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. I appears more than once.
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 CILIA
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 9
Could you have found CILIA?
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 9 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER