The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.

SPINE

/spaɪn/5 letters

Definition of SPINE

noun

A series of bones situated at the back from the head to the pelvis of a human, or from the head to the tail of an animal, enclosing the spinal cord and providing support for the thorax and abdomen.

Wiktionary · CC BY-SA

Where it comes from

From late Middle English spyne, from Old French espine (French épine) or its source, Latin spīna (“a thorn; a prickle, spine; the backbone”). Doublet of spina.

Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).

Word DNA

Line of descent

  1. Latin
  2. Old French
  3. Middle English
  4. English

3 recorded generations before English.

Latin

Deepest traced root

1st

of 59 source languages in OUTLIER

30.7%

of traced words share this origin (23,981)

Italic

branch · 30.7% of traced words

How it is built

noun1 syllable

Same root, SPINE · 8 relatives in the game

Every Latin word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →

Rarity score
Withheld
Revealed only in play
Tier
Withheld
Find it yourself

OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.

SPINE in OUTLIER

Players have found it on 11 boards so far. 15 players have found it across Outlier's history.

Day 1Day 158
Its 11 boards, across 158 finished boards · taller bars are busier boards
11
Boards found on
8
First board
151
Latest board
45
Longest gap, days

It first turned up on Day 8, 29 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 151, 18 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 7 days.

First ever to find it

lokimischief218

on Day 8, 29 May 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers

Built from these letters

SPINE
5
Letters
2
Vowels
3
Consonants
5
Different letters
2
Longest consonant run
1
Longest vowel run

SPINE starts with S and ends with E. Sorted, its letters read EINPS - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.

Same letters, different word

4 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.

Words that start SPINE

Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.

Could you have found SPINE?

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 8 - and most players walked straight past it.

Play today's OUTLIER