The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.

RETRONYM

/ɹəˈtɹəʊ.nɪm/8 letters

Definition of RETRONYM

noun

A new word or phrase coined for an old object or concept whose original name has become used for something else or is no longer unique, or which did not originally have a specific name.

Wiktionary · CC BY-SA

Where it comes from

From retro- + -onym; coined by Frank Mankiewicz and popularized by William Safire.

Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).

Word DNA

How it is built

noun3 syllablescompound-onymretro-

Same root, RETRONYM · 1 relative in the game

The Word DNA of OUTLIER →

Rarity score
Withheld
Revealed only in play
Tier
Withheld
Find it yourself

OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.

RETRONYM in OUTLIER

Players have found it on 3 boards so far.

Day 1Day 172
Its 3 boards, across 172 finished boards · taller bars are busier boards
3
Boards found on
152
First board
172
Latest board
17
Longest gap, days

It first turned up on Day 152, 19 October 2026. The most recent board was Day 172, 8 November 2026. It was on the latest finished board.

First ever to find it

pxjtPATRON

on Day 152, 19 October 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers

Built from these letters

RETRONYM
8
Letters
2
Vowels
6
Consonants
7
Different letters
3
Longest consonant run
1
Longest vowel run

RETRONYM starts with R and ends with M. Sorted, its letters read EMNORRTY - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. R appears more than once.

Words that start RETRON

Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.

RETRONYMSRETRONYMIC

Could you have found RETRONYM?

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 152 - and most players walked straight past it.

Play today's OUTLIER