The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
ONSEN
Definition of ONSEN
noun
A (Japanese) hot spring.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Japanese 温泉 (onsen), from Middle Chinese 溫泉 ('won dzjwen, “hot springs”), from 溫 / 温 (wēn, “warm”) + 泉 (quán, “spring[s]”). Compare the modern Mandarin pronunciation 溫泉 / 温泉 (wēnquán).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
33rd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
0.2%
of traced words share this origin (146)
branch · 0.3% of traced words
How it is built
Its etymology also names Mandarin.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
ONSEN in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 2 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 145, 12 October 2026. The most recent board was Day 159, 26 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 1 day.
First ever to find it
on Day 145, 12 October 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
ONSEN starts with O and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read ENNOS - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. N appears more than once.
Same letters, different word
3 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start ONSEN
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found ONSEN?
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 145 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER