The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
OBELUS
Definition of OBELUS
noun
A symbol resembling a horizontal line (–), sometimes together with one or two dots (for example, ⨪ or ÷), which was used in ancient manuscripts and texts to mark a word or passage as doubtful or spurious, or redundant; an obelisk.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English obelus, obelo, from Old English obelus, from Late Latin obelus (“critical mark”), from Koine Greek ὀβελός (obelós, “critical mark”), Ancient Greek ὀβελός (obelós, “rod, spit; obelisk; critical mark”). The further etymology is uncertain; a derivation from βέλος (bélos, “arrow, dart, missile”) (from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to pierce; to reach; to throw; to hit by throwing”)) has been suggested, but the initial vowel remains unexplained. Compare obelisk. The plural form obeli is derived from Late Latin obeli, from Ancient Greek ὀβελοί (obeloí).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
5 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
3rd
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
9%
of traced words share this origin (2,589)
How it is built
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.
OBELUS in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 42 boards so far. 52 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 41, 30 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 144, 11 October 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First ever to find it
on Day 41, 30 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
OBELUS starts with O and ends with S. Sorted, its letters read BELOSU - 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.
Also seen on Day 41
Could you have found OBELUS?
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 41 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER