The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
SPARK
Definition of SPARK
noun
A small particle of glowing matter, either molten or on fire, resulting from an electrical surge or excessive heat created by friction.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English sparke, sperke, from Old English spearca, from Proto-West Germanic *sparkō (compare Saterland Frisian Spoorke, West Frisian spark, Dutch spark, German Low German Sparke, German Sparke), perhaps from Proto-Germanic *sparkaz (“lively, energetic”), from Proto-Indo-European *sperg- (“to strew, sprinkle”) (compare Breton erc’h (“snow”), Latin spargō (“to scatter, spread”), sparsus (“scattered”), Lithuanian sprógti (“to germinate”), Ancient Greek σπαργάω (spargáō, “to swell”), Avestan 𐬟𐬭𐬀𐬯𐬞𐬀𐬭𐬈𐬔𐬀 (frasparega, “branch, twig”), Sanskrit पर्जन्य (parjanya, “rain, rain god”)).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
7 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
14th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
0.9%
of traced words share this origin (254)
branch · 1.4% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, SPARK · 3 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Dutch.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
SPARK in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 5 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 20, 9 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 97, 25 August 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 54 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 20, 9 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
SPARK starts with S and ends with K. Sorted, its letters read AKPRS - 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 SPARK
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 20
Could you have found SPARK?
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 20 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER