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).
Word DNA
Line of descent
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
15th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
1%
of traced words share this origin (740)
branch · 1.5% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, PHAGE · 1 relative 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.
PHAGE in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 76 boards so far. 441 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 9, 29 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 154, 21 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 1 day.
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