The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
GLANCE
Definition of GLANCE
verb
To turn (one's eyes or look) at something, often briefly. To look briefly at (something). To cause (light) to gleam or sparkle. To cause (something) to move obliquely. To hit (a ball) lightly, causing it to move in another direction. To hit (a ball) with a bat held in a slanted manner; also, to play such a stroke against (the bowler). To communicate (something) using the eyes. To touch (something) lightly or obliquely; to graze. To make an incidental or passing reflection, often unfavourably, on (a topic); also, to make (an incidental or passing reflection, often unfavourable).
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
The verb is derived from Late Middle English glenchen (“of a blow: to strike obliquely, glance; of a person: to turn quickly aside, dodge”) [and other forms], a blend of: The noun is derived from the verb. The sense "to look briefly (at something)" is probably due to partial conflation with Middle English glenten (“to look askance”)—the ancestor of English glint—in the Middle English period. This conflation may also have reinforced the medial -n-. See English glint
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Middle English
- English
One recorded step before English.
Deepest traced root
4th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
6.2%
of traced words share this origin (5,006)
branch · 22.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, GLANCE · 5 relatives in the game
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
GLANCE in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 17 boards so far. 19 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 23, 12 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 163, 30 October 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First ever to find it
on Day 23, 12 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
GLANCE starts with G and ends with E. Sorted, its letters read ACEGLN - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
One other word uses exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start GLANCE
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 23
Could you have found GLANCE?
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