The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
ESPY
Definition of ESPY
verb
To find out or observe (someone or something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking; to catch sight of; to see; to spot.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English aspien, espien (“to make covert observations of (a person or place) with hostile intent, to spy on; to seek to discover by spying; to act as a spy; to catch sight of, see; to look over, observe; to wait in ambush, to ambush; to plot against; to look for, seek to find; to inquire or look into, investigate; to discover, find”) [and other forms], from Old French espier (“to watch”) (modern French épier (“to keep an eye on, watch; to spy on; (dated) to watch for”)), from Vulgar Latin *spiāre, from Frankish *spehōn (“to look, peer; to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to look, peer; to spy”), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look, observe, see”). Doublet of spy.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
6 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.2%
of traced words share this origin (11,575)
How it is built
Same root, ESPY · 3 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.
ESPY in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 40 boards so far. 66 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 27, 16 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 162, 29 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 2 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 27, 16 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
ESPY starts with E and ends with Y. Sorted, its letters read EPSY - 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.
Also seen on Day 27
Could you have found ESPY?
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 27 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER