The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
DRAIN
Definition of DRAIN
noun
A conduit allowing liquid to flow out of an otherwise contained volume; a plughole
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Inherited from Middle English *dreinen, from Old English drēahnian, from Proto-West Germanic *drauhnōn, from Proto-Germanic *drauhnōną, from *draugiz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ-, from *dʰer-. Akin to Old English drūgian (“to dry up”), Old English drūgaþ (“dryness, drought”), Old English drȳġe (“dry”). More at dry.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.3%
of traced words share this origin (11,343)
How it is built
Same root, DRAIN · 7 relatives in the game
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
DRAIN in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 34 boards so far. 59 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 23, 12 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 160, 27 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 1 day.
First found by a player on Day 23, 12 June 2026.
Built from these letters
DRAIN starts with D and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read ADINR - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
3 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start DRAIN
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found DRAIN?
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 23 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER