The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
EXPLANATORY
Definition of EXPLANATORY
adjective
Intended to serve as an explanation.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Late Latin explānātōrius, from Latin explānāt-, past-participle stem of explānāre (“to explain”). Displaced Old English ġereclīċ.
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.
EXPLANATORY in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 4 boards so far. 19 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 65, 24 July 2026. The most recent board was Day 98, 26 August 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First ever to find it
on Day 65, 24 July 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
EXPLANATORY starts with E and ends with Y. Sorted, its letters read AAELNOPRTXY - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. A appears more than once. It uses X - among the least common letters in written English.
Words that start EXPLANA
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found EXPLANATORY?
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 65 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER