The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
DORK
Definition of DORK
noun
A quirky, silly or stupid, socially inept person, or one who is out of touch with contemporary trends and typically has unfashionable hobbies. (Overlaps conceptually with nerd and geek, but does not imply the same level of intelligence.)
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
First use appears in the US c. 1961. The sense of a "silly person" is presumably from earlier use as a bowdlerization of dick (“penis”) in student slang, particularly the Midwest. Despite a common misconception, it has never referred specifically to a whale's penis, but penises in general. Alternative etymology derives from dialectal Norwegian dorg (“a mass; heap; a heavy, dimwitted, slovenly person”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Norwegian
- English
One recorded step before English.
Deepest traced root
43rd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
0.1%
of traced words share this origin (71)
branch · 22.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, DORK · 7 relatives in the game
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
DORK in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 25 boards so far. 34 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 2, 23 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 163, 30 October 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First ever to find it
on Day 54, 13 July 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
DORK starts with D and ends with K. Sorted, its letters read DKOR - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start DORK
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 2
Could you have found DORK?
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 2 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER