The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
SPRUE
Definition of SPRUE
noun
A tropical disease causing a sore throat and tongue, and disturbed digestion; psilosis.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Dutch spruw, sprouw. First described by William Hillary.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Dutch
- English
One recorded step before English.
Deepest traced root
16th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
0.9%
of traced words share this origin (716)
branch · 22.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, SPRUE · 2 relatives in the game
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
SPRUE in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 46 boards so far. 81 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 29, 18 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 163, 30 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 2 days.
First found by a player on Day 29, 18 June 2026.
Built from these letters
SPRUE starts with S and ends with E. Sorted, its letters read EPRSU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
5 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Also seen on Day 29
Could you have found SPRUE?
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 29 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER