The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
SPIKENARD
Definition of SPIKENARD
noun
A perfumed ointment, extracted from the plant Nardostachys jatamansi that belongs to the Valerian family and grows in the Himalayas.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English spikenard, spikenarde, from Anglo-Norman spicanarde, from Medieval Latin spīca nardī, from Latin spica (“spike”) + nardi (“nard”). Equivalent to spike + nard.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
1st
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
33.2%
of traced words share this origin (10,073)
branch · 33.2% of traced words
How it is built
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
SPIKENARD in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 18 boards so far. 26 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 47, 6 July 2026. The most recent board was Day 151, 18 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 3 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 47, 6 July 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
SPIKENARD starts with S and ends with D. Sorted, its letters read ADEIKNPRS - 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 SPIKEN
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 47
Could you have found SPIKENARD?
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 47 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER