The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
HOVER
Definition of HOVER
verb
To keep (something, such as an aircraft) in a stationary state in the air. Of a bird: to shelter (chicks) under its body and wings; of a thing: to cover or surround (something). Of a bird or insect: to flap (its wings) so it can remain stationary in the air.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
The verb is derived from Middle English hoveren (“to float in the air, hover; to stay”), probably from hoven (“hover; of a bird: to fly high in the air, soar”) (which it displaced) + -er- (frequentative suffix). Hoven is probably derived from Old English *hōfian, from hōfon, the plural past indicative form of hebban (“to lift, raise”), from Proto-West Germanic *habbjan, from Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to lift; to heave”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂p- (“to hold, seize”). The English word is analysable as hove (“(obsolete) to remain suspended, float, hover; to linger, wait”) + -er (frequentative suffix). The noun is derived from the verb.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.3%
of traced words share this origin (11,293)
How it is built
Same root, HOVER · 5 relatives in the game
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
HOVER in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 39 boards so far. 61 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 7, 28 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 160, 27 October 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 7, 28 May 2026.
Built from these letters
HOVER starts with H and ends with R. Sorted, its letters read EHORV - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start HOVER
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 7
Could you have found HOVER?
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 7 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER