The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
PROTEAN
Definition of PROTEAN
adjective
Exceedingly variable; readily assuming different shapes or forms.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Proteus + -an, referring to the Greek warden of sea-beasts, renowned for his ability to change shape.
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.
PROTEAN in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 37 boards so far. 59 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 28, 17 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 98, 26 August 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 28, 17 June 2026.
Built from these letters
PROTEAN starts with P and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read AENOPRT - 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.
Words that start PROTEA
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 28
Could you have found PROTEAN?
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 28 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER