The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
HOCUS
Definition of HOCUS
verb
To play a trick on, to trick (someone); to hoax; to cheat.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Shortened from hocus-pocus. The verb is from the noun.
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.
HOCUS in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 15 boards so far. 31 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 25, 14 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 114, 11 September 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First ever to find it
on Day 25, 14 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
HOCUS starts with H and ends with S. Sorted, its letters read CHOSU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start HOCUS
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 25
Could you have found HOCUS?
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 25 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER