The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
ERSATZ
Definition of ERSATZ
adjective
An inauthentic or inadequate substitute or imitation.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Borrowed from German Ersatz (“replacement, substitute”), a back-formation from ersetzen (“to replace, to substitute”).
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.
ERSATZ in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 7 boards so far. 67 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 29, 18 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 107, 4 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 4 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 29, 18 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Also on
Built from these letters
ERSATZ starts with E and ends with Z. Sorted, its letters read AERSTZ - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram. It uses Z - among the least common letters in written English.
Words that start ERSATZ
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 29
Could you have found ERSATZ?
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 29 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER