The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
HERPES
Definition of HERPES
noun
A viral infection, caused by Human alphaherpesvirus 1 and Human alphaherpesvirus 2, marked by painful, watery blisters in the skin or in the mucous membranes or on the genitals.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Latin herpēs, from Ancient Greek ἕρπης (hérpēs, “herpes”, literally “a creeping”), from ἕρπειν (hérpein, “to creep”).
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.
HERPES in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 18 boards so far. 25 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 32, 21 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 100, 28 August 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 2 days.
First found by a player on Day 32, 21 June 2026.
Built from these letters
HERPES starts with H and ends with S. Sorted, its letters read EEHPRS - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. E appears more than once.
Same letters, different word
2 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start HERPES
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 32
Could you have found HERPES?
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 32 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER