The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
SPATE
Definition of SPATE
noun
A (sudden) flood or inundation of water; specifically, a flood in or overflow of a river or other watercourse due to heavy rain or melting snow; flooding, inundation.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
The noun is derived from Middle English spate, spait (“a flood”), influenced by Scots spate (“torrent of water, flood; heavy downpour of rain; (figurative) bout of drinking; large crowd of people; flood of events, words, etc.”). The further etymology of the Middle English and Scots words is uncertain; they are possibly related to English spatter and Dutch spatten (“to spatter, splash”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sp(y)ēw-, *spyū- (whence English spit (“to evacuate (saliva or another substance) from the mouth, etc.”)), which is imitative of spitting. The verb is derived from the noun, probably influenced by Scots spate (“to flood, swell; to rain heavily; (figurative) to scold fiercely”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
SPATE in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 19 boards so far. 49 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 14, 3 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 94, 22 August 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 3 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 14, 3 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
SPATE starts with S and ends with E. Sorted, its letters read AEPST - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
7 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start SPATE
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 14
Could you have found SPATE?
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 14 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER