The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
GOBLIN
Definition of GOBLIN
noun
Traditionally, a supernatural being of folklore, typically small and grotesque or misshapen, that commonly haunts dark places, often mischievous or malevolent; a type of evil elf, sprite, or demon.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English gobelyn, from Old Northern French gobelin (compare Norman goubelin, Walloon gobelin), possibly a blend of Old Dutch *kobeholdo (“goblin”) (compare Dutch kabouter, German Kobold) and Late Latin cobalus (“mountain sprite”), from Ancient Greek κόβαλος (kóbalos, “rogue, knave; goblin”). Displaced native Old English pūca from Proto-Germanic *pūkô (“a goblin, spook”), whence English puck.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
5 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
3rd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
12.2%
of traced words share this origin (9,477)
branch · 12.2% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, GOBLIN · 2 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Old English, Proto-Germanic.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
GOBLIN in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 36 boards so far. 81 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 8, 29 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 151, 18 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 5 days.
First found by a player on Day 8, 29 May 2026.
Built from these letters
GOBLIN starts with G and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read BGILNO - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
2 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Also seen on Day 8
Could you have found GOBLIN?
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 8 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER