The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
DETECT
Definition of DETECT
verb
To discover or notice, especially by careful search, examination, or probing.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Latin detectus, perfect passive participle of detegere (“to uncover or disclose”), from de- + tegere (“to cover”); see tegument, tile, thatch. Sense "to work or solve cases as a detective" a back-formation from detective.
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.
DETECT in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 2 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 90, 18 August 2026. The most recent board was Day 117, 14 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 3 days.
First found by a player on Day 90, 18 August 2026.
Built from these letters
DETECT starts with D and ends with T. Sorted, its letters read CDEETT - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. E and T appear 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 DETECT
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found DETECT?
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 90 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER