The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
OPERATES
Definition of OPERATES
verb
third-person singular simple present indicative of operate
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Word DNA
OPERATES inherits its ancestry from its root, OPERATE.
Line of descent
- Latin
- English
One recorded step before English.
Deepest traced root
1st
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
33.1%
of traced words share this origin (9,595)
branch · 33.1% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, OPERATE · 3 relatives in the game
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
OPERATES in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 2 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 50, 9 July 2026. The most recent board was Day 109, 6 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 36 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 50, 9 July 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
OPERATES starts with O and ends with S. Sorted, its letters read AEEOPRST - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. E appears more than once.
Same letters, different word
One other word uses exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start OPERAT
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 50
Could you have found OPERATES?
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 50 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER