The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
PHAGE
Definition of PHAGE
noun
A virus that is parasitic on bacteria.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Clipping of bacteriophage from bacterio- (“bacteria”) + -phage (“eater”); latter suffix from Ancient Greek -φάγος (-phágos, “eater”), from φαγ- (phag-), aorist stem of ἐσθίω (esthíō) or ἔδω (édō, “to eat, to consume”). Stem φαγ- (phag-) may also derive from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂g- (“to divide, distribute”) thus ultimately doublet of bhakti (via Sanskrit भक्ति (bhakti, “portion, division”) from root भज् (bhaj, “to divide, to apportion”)).
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.
PHAGE in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 54 boards so far. 213 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 9, 29 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 108, 5 September 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 9, 29 May 2026.
Built from these letters
PHAGE starts with P and ends with E. Sorted, its letters read AEGHP - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start PHAGE
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 9
Could you have found PHAGE?
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 9 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER