The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
PROTON
Definition of PROTON
noun
A positively charged subatomic particle forming part of the nucleus of an atom and determining the atomic number of an element, composed of two up quarks and a down quark.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πρῶτον (prôton), neuter of πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”). (physics): Coined by New Zealand-British scientist Ernest Rutherford in 1920, in analogy with electron (1891), and with an additional intention of honoring English chemist William Prout. Analyzable as proto- + -on (anatomy): A translation of German Anlage (“fundamental thing”) based on Aristotle’s phrase ἡ πρώτη οὐσία τὸ πρῶτον (hē prṓtē ousía tò prôton).
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.
PROTON in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 25 boards so far. 32 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 14, 3 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 100, 28 August 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 2 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 14, 3 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
PROTON starts with P and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read NOOPRT - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. O appears more than once.
Same letters, different word
One other word uses exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start PROTON
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 14
Could you have found PROTON?
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 14 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER