The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
HOBBY
Definition of HOBBY
noun
An activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English hoby (“small horse, pony”), a variant or alteration of hobyn (“a small ambling horse”), of uncertain and disputed origin. According to one theory the term is derived from Hobin, a pet name of Robert or Robin, at the time frequently used as a proper name for a workhorse (compare dobbin). Alternatively, possibly from Anglo-Norman hobyn, Old French hobin, obin ("a nag, hobby"; > Modern French aubin, Italian ubino): either derived from Old French hober, ober (“to stir, move”), from Old Dutch *hobbon ("to toss, move up and down"; whence Middle Dutch hobbelen (“to bump along”)); or possibly from North Germanic origin related to Danish hoppe (“a mare”), Old Swedish hoppa (“a young mare”), North Frisian hoppe (“horse”); both routes ultimately deriving from Proto-Germanic *huppōną (“to bob, hop”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewb- (“to bend; a bend, joint”). More at hop, hobble. The modern sense of "pastime, activity of interest" is a clipping of hobby horse, which had shifted from "small horse, pony" to "child's toy riding horse" to "favorite pastime or avocation" with the connecting notion being "activity that doesn't go anywhere".
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.
HOBBY in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 2 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 76, 4 August 2026. The most recent board was Day 111, 8 September 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First ever to find it
on Day 76, 4 August 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
HOBBY starts with H and ends with Y. Sorted, its letters read BBHOY - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. B appears more than once, including a double letter.
Words that start HOBBY
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found HOBBY?
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 76 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER