The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
ONSET
Definition of ONSET
noun
The initial phase of a disease or condition, in which symptoms first become apparent.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From on- + set. Compare Old English onsettan (“to impose; oppress, bear down”). For semantic parallels for the meaning to assault, compare cognate Russian насе́сть pf (naséstʹ), наседа́ть impf (nasedátʹ).
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.
ONSET in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 8 boards so far. 11 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 43, 2 July 2026. The most recent board was Day 97, 25 August 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 9 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 43, 2 July 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
ONSET starts with O and ends with T. Sorted, its letters read ENOST - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
5 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start ONSET
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 43
Could you have found ONSET?
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 43 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER