The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
IDOLATRY
Definition of IDOLATRY
noun
The worship of idols.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Inherited from Middle English ydolatrie, from Old French idolatrie, from Ecclesiastical Latin īdōlatrīa, from Late Latin īdōlolatrīa, from Ancient Greek εἰδωλολατρίᾱ (eidōlolatríā, “worship of idols”), back-formation from εἰδωλολάτρης (eidōlolátrēs), from εἴδωλον (eídōlon, “idol”) & λάτρις (látris, “worshipper”) or λατρεύω (latreúō, “to worship”), from λάτρον (látron, “payment”). Equivalent to idol + -latry. Cognate with Modern French idolâtrie, Italian idolatria, Occitan ydolatria, Portuguese idolatria, and Spanish idolatría. Displaced native Old English dēofolġield (literally “devil worship”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
3rd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
12.4%
of traced words share this origin (10,240)
branch · 12.4% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, IDOLATRY · 3 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Italian, Old English, Portuguese, Spanish.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
IDOLATRY in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 79 boards so far. 302 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 6, 27 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 166, 2 November 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 6, 27 May 2026.
Built from these letters
IDOLATRY starts with I and ends with Y. Sorted, its letters read ADILORTY - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
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 IDOLAT
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 6
Could you have found IDOLATRY?
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 6 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER