The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
DETAIN
Definition of DETAIN
verb
To keep something from proceeding or coming to completion; to delay.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Old French detenir. Doublet of détente. Cognate with Italian detenere, Portuguese deter, Romanian deține, and Spanish detener.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Old French
- English
One recorded step before English.
Deepest traced root
9th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
2.9%
of traced words share this origin (2,307)
branch · 12.8% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, DETAIN · 6 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
DETAIN in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 11 boards so far. 13 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 44, 3 July 2026. The most recent board was Day 155, 22 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 5 days.
First found by a player on Day 44, 3 July 2026.
Built from these letters
DETAIN starts with D and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read ADEINT - 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 DETAIN
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 44
Could you have found DETAIN?
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 44 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER