The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
SPOUSE
Definition of SPOUSE
noun
A person in a marriage or marital relationship.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English spous, spouse, from Anglo-Norman espus m, espuse f and Old French espos m, espose f and by aphesis from Latin spōnsus m (“bridegroom”), spōnsa f (“bride”), from spondeō (“to vow, pledge”), from Proto-Indo-European *spend-. Displaced native Old English ġemaca. Related to espouse and sponsor.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
5 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.2%
of traced words share this origin (11,595)
How it is built
Same root, SPOUSE · 4 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Old English.
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
SPOUSE in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 2 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 76, 4 August 2026. The most recent board was Day 162, 29 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 2 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 76, 4 August 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
SPOUSE starts with S and ends with E. Sorted, its letters read EOPSSU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. S appears more than once.
Same letters, different word
2 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start SPOUSE
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found SPOUSE?
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 76 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER