The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
PTERYGOID
Definition of PTERYGOID
adjective
Of, pertaining to or lying in the region of the inferior part of the sphenoid bone of the vertebrate skull.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Borrowed from New Latin pterygoīdēs, from Ancient Greek πτερῠγοειδής (pterŭgoeidḗs, “like a wing”), from πτέρῠξ (ptérŭx, “a wing”) + -ο- (-o-) + -ειδής (-eidḗs, “-like, -oid”).
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 (3,666)
branch · 12.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, PTERYGOID · 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.
PTERYGOID in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 29 boards so far. 42 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 26, 15 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 142, 9 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 4 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 26, 15 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
PTERYGOID starts with P and ends with D. Sorted, its letters read DEGIOPRTY - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start PTERYG
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 26
Could you have found PTERYGOID?
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 26 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER