The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
OSTRACIZE
Definition of OSTRACIZE
verb
To ban a person from a city for five or ten years through the procedure of ostracism.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Ancient Greek ὀστρακίζω (ostrakízō, “to banish from a city by ostracism”), from ὄστρᾰκον (óstrăkon, “earthenware vessel; fragment of such a vessel, potsherd”) (from the fact that when voting was held to decide whether to banish people, their names were inscribed on potsherds) + -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō, suffix forming verbs)). The English word is cognate with French ostraciser.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Ancient Greek
- English
One recorded step before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
12.7%
of traced words share this origin (3,825)
branch · 12.7% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, OSTRACIZE · 2 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names French.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
OSTRACIZE in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 3 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 29, 18 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 145, 12 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 9 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 29, 18 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
OSTRACIZE starts with O and ends with E. Sorted, its letters read ACEIORSTZ - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram. It uses Z - among the least common letters in written English.
Words that start OSTRAC
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 29
Could you have found OSTRACIZE?
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 29 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER