The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
MATCHES
Definition of MATCHES
noun
plural of match
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Word DNA
MATCHES inherits its ancestry from its root, MATCH.
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.2%
of traced words share this origin (11,700)
How it is built
Same root, MATCH · 7 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Danish, Icelandic.
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.
MATCHES in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 17 boards so far. 17 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 7, 28 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 148, 15 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 17 days.
First found by a player on Day 7, 28 May 2026.
Built from these letters
MATCHES starts with M and ends with S. Sorted, its letters read ACEHMST - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start MATCHE
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 7
Could you have found MATCHES?
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