The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
DONGA
Definition of DONGA
noun
A usually dry, eroded watercourse running only in times of heavy rain.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Afrikaans donga, borrowed from Zulu ū́dongá, from Proto-Bantu *mʊ̀dòngà.
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.
DONGA in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 4 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 24, 13 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 98, 26 August 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 3 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 24, 13 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
DONGA starts with D and ends with A. Sorted, its letters read ADGNO - 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.
Also seen on Day 24
Could you have found DONGA?
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 24 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER