The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
DECAY
Definition of DECAY
noun
Rot; any processes or result of organic matter being gradually decomposed, especially by microbial action.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English decaien (“to decrease, diminish”) and decai (“deterioration, decline in value”), from Anglo-Norman decaeir (“to fall away, decay, decline”), from Vulgar Latin *dēcadere, etymologically restored form of Latin dēcidere (“to fall down, to fail, sink or perish”), from de- (“of, from, away, down”) + cadere (“to fall”). Compare decadent and decadence.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
DECAY in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 13 boards so far. 15 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 21, 10 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 114, 11 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 9 days.
First found by a player on Day 21, 10 June 2026.
Built from these letters
DECAY starts with D and ends with Y. Sorted, its letters read ACDEY - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start DECAY
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 21
Could you have found DECAY?
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 21 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER