The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
CORE
Definition of CORE
noun
In general usage, an essential part of a thing surrounded by other essential things. The central part of a fruit, containing the kernels or seeds.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English core, kore, coor (“apple-core, pith”), of obscure and uncertain origin. Possibly of native English origin, from Old English *cor, related to Old English *coruc, *corc (diminutive) (> Middle English cork, crok (“core of an apple or other fruit, heart of an onion”)) and Old English corn (“seed", also "grain”); or alternatively perhaps from Old French cuer (“heart”), from Latin cor (“heart”); or from Old French cors (“body”), from Latin corpus (“body”). Compare also Middle English colk, coke, coll (“the heart or centre of an apple or onion, core”), Dutch kern (“core”), German Kern (“core”). See also heart, corpse. Compare typologically Russian серде́чник (serdéčnik), сердцеви́на (serdcevína)) (akin to се́рдце (sérdce), cognate with heart, Latin cor).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Old English
- Middle English
- English
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
7th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
3.7%
of traced words share this origin (2,881)
branch · 22.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, CORE · 6 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Dutch, German, Latin, Old French, Russian.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
CORE in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 19 boards so far. 17 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 1, 22 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 159, 26 October 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 30, 19 June 2026.
Built from these letters
CORE starts with C and ends with E. Sorted, its letters read CEOR - 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 CORE
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 1
Could you have found CORE?
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 1 - and most players walked straight past it.
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