The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
ROAN
Definition of ROAN
adjective
Having a coat of a dark base color with individual white hairs mixed in.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle French roan, probably from Spanish roano, from Old Spanish raudano, itself probably of Germanic origin (compare Gothic *𐍂𐌰𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌽 (*raudan), accusative of 𐍂𐌰𐌿𐌸𐍃 (rauþs, “red”). Compare rowan.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- German
- Spanish
- Middle French
- English
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
8th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
3.3%
of traced words share this origin (2,700)
branch · 22.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, ROAN · 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.
ROAN in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 57 boards so far. 140 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 26, 15 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 161, 28 October 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
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
ROAN starts with R and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read ANOR - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start ROAN
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 26
Could you have found ROAN?
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