The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
OPEN
Definition of OPEN
adjective
Physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc. Able to have something pass through or along it.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Adjective from Middle English open, from Old English open (“open”), from Proto-West Germanic *opan, from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (“open”), from Proto-Indo-European *upo (“up from under, over”). Compare also Latin supinus (“on one's back, supine”), Albanian hap (“to open”). Related to up. Verb from Middle English openen, from Old English openian (“to open”), from Proto-West Germanic *opanōn, from Proto-Germanic *upanōną (“to raise; lift; open”), from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (“open”, adjective). Cognate with Saterland Frisian eepenje (“to open”), West Frisian iepenje (“to open”), Dutch openen (“to open”), German öffnen (“to open”), Danish åbne (“to open”), Swedish öppna (“to open”), Norwegian Bokmål åpne (“to open”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Icelandic opna (“to open”). Related to English up. Noun from Middle English open (“an aperture or opening”), from the verb. In the sports sense, however, a shortening of “open competition”.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
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 (12,281)
How it is built
Same root, OPEN · 8 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Danish, Dutch, Icelandic, Latin, Norwegian, Swedish.
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.
OPEN in OUTLIER
It has fitted 23 boards so far. 19 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 66, 25 July 2026. The most recent board was Day 170, 6 November 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 7 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 24, 13 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
OPEN starts with O and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read ENOP - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
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 OPEN
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found OPEN?
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 66 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER