The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
SHAPING
Definition of SHAPING
noun
The action of the verb to shape. A method of positive reinforcement of behaviour patterns in a series of steps in operant conditioning. The action of the metal-cutting machine called a shaper, which uses linear single-point cutting. It is largely but not entirely obsolete.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English schapynge, equivalent to shape + -ing.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Middle English
- English
One recorded step before English.
Deepest traced root
4th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
6.2%
of traced words share this origin (4,835)
branch · 22.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, SHAP · 3 relatives 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.
SHAPING in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 20 boards so far. 24 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 22, 11 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 152, 19 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 7 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 22, 11 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
SHAPING starts with S and ends with G. Sorted, its letters read AGHINPS - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
3 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start SHAPIN
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 22
Could you have found SHAPING?
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 22 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER