The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
IDEA
Definition of IDEA
noun
An abstract archetype of a given thing, compared to which real-life examples are seen as imperfect approximations; pure essence, as opposed to actual examples.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Latin idea (“a (Platonic) idea; archetype”), from Ancient Greek ἰδέα (idéa, “notion, pattern”), from εἴδω (eídō, “to see”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to know; see”). Cognate with French idée. Doublet of idée. Related to idol, idolum, and eidolon.
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.
IDEA in OUTLIER
It has fitted 104 boards so far. 10 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 1, 22 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 107, 4 September 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 26, 15 June 2026.
Built from these letters
IDEA starts with I and ends with A. Sorted, its letters read ADEI - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
One other word uses exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start IDEA
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 1
Could you have found IDEA?
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 1 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER