The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
PHALANX
Definition of PHALANX
noun
An ancient Greek and Macedonian military unit that consisted of several ranks and files (lines) of soldiers in close array with joined shields and long spears.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Latin phalanx or Ancient Greek φάλαγξ (phálanx, “battle order; array”). Doublet of phalange, planch, plancha, planche, and plank.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Ancient Greek
- Latin
- English
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
12.6%
of traced words share this origin (3,660)
branch · 12.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, PHALANX · 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.
PHALANX in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 15 boards so far. 482 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 32, 21 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 144, 11 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 1 day.
First ever to find it
on Day 32, 21 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
PHALANX starts with P and ends with X. Sorted, its letters read AAHLNPX - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. A appears more than once. It uses X - among the least common letters in written English.
Words that start PHALAN
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 32
Could you have found PHALANX?
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 32 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER