The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
RUST
Definition of RUST
noun
The deteriorated state of iron or steel as a result of moisture and oxidation; it consists mostly of iron(III) oxide (ferric oxide) and iron(II) oxide (ferrous oxide).
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English rust, rost, roust, from Old English rust, rūst (“rust”), from Proto-West Germanic *rust, from Proto-Germanic *rustaz (“rust”), from Proto-Indo-European *rudʰso- (“red”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ- (“red”). Cognate with Scots roust (“rust”), Saterland Frisian rust (“rust”), West Frisian roast (“rust”), Dutch roest (“rust”), German Rost (“rust”), Danish rust (“rust”), Swedish rost (“rust”), Norwegian rust, ryst (“rust”), Finnish ruoste, Estonian rooste. Related to red.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.2%
of traced words share this origin (11,787)
How it is built
Same root, RUST · 3 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Scots, Swedish.
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
RUST in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 17 boards so far. 24 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 23, 12 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 149, 16 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 19 days.
First found by a player on Day 23, 12 June 2026.
Built from these letters
RUST starts with R and ends with T. Sorted, its letters read RSTU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
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 RUST
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 23
Could you have found RUST?
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 23 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER