The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
POLECAT
Definition of POLECAT
noun
Any of several long-bodied mammals of the subfamilies Mustelinae and Ictonychinae, both in the weasel family Mustelidae. Notably, the European polecat, Mustela putorius.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English polcat, pulkat, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Middle English *pole, *poule (“hen”), from Old French poule (“hen”) + Middle English cat. Compare English foulmart.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Old French
- Middle English
- English
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
9th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
2.9%
of traced words share this origin (2,408)
branch · 12.8% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, POLECAT · 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.
POLECAT in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 33 boards so far. 83 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 35, 24 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 158, 25 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 8 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 35, 24 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
POLECAT starts with P and ends with T. Sorted, its letters read ACELOPT - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Also seen on Day 35
Could you have found POLECAT?
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 35 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER