The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
COLUMNS
Definition of COLUMNS
noun
plural of column
noun
A solid upright structure designed usually to support a larger structure above it, such as a roof or horizontal beam, but sometimes for decoration.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Word DNA
COLUMNS inherits its ancestry from its root, COLUMN.
Line of descent
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
1st
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
33.1%
of traced words share this origin (9,643)
branch · 33.1% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, COLUMN · 2 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Ancient Greek.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
COLUMNS in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 21 boards so far. 49 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 7, 28 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 145, 12 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 2 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 7, 28 May 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
COLUMNS starts with C and ends with S. Sorted, its letters read CLMNOSU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start COLUMN
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 7
Could you have found COLUMNS?
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 7 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER