The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
PHONIC
Definition of PHONIC
adjective
Of or pertaining to sound; of the nature of sound; acoustic.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound”) + -ic.
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
12.6%
of traced words share this origin (3,789)
branch · 12.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, PHONIC · 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.
PHONIC in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 71 boards so far. 337 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 7, 28 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 150, 17 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 2 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 7, 28 May 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
PHONIC starts with P and ends with C. Sorted, its letters read CHINOP - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
2 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Also seen on Day 7
Could you have found PHONIC?
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 7 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER