The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
EPIZOOTIC
Definition of EPIZOOTIC
noun
An occurrence of a disease or disorder in a population of non-human animals at a frequency higher than that expected in a given time period.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From French épizootique, animal equivalent of epidemic, from épizootie, irregularly formed from Ancient Greek ἐπί (epí) + ζῷον (zōîon, “animal”). By surface analysis, epi- + zo- + -otic. Use of the word in the second sense, "an ailment", was likely originally a reference to a particular epizootic ailment. Both senses are attested since at least the 1800s, and the pronunciation with five syllables is explicitly attested since then as well. Dialectal pronunciation of the second sense with four syllables is attested since at least the 1910s in spellings like "epizudic" and is suggested by 1870s references to a shortened form of the word, "zooty".
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.
EPIZOOTIC in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 2 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 55, 14 July 2026. The most recent board was Day 68, 27 July 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 54 days.
First found by a player on Day 55, 14 July 2026.
Built from these letters
EPIZOOTIC starts with E and ends with C. Sorted, its letters read CEIIOOPTZ - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. I and O appear more than once, including a double letter. It uses Z - among the least common letters in written English.
Words that start EPIZOO
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 55
Could you have found EPIZOOTIC?
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 55 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER