The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
STAY
Definition of STAY
verb
To remain in a particular place, especially for a definite or short period of time; sojourn; abide.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English steyen, staien, from Old French estayer, estaier (“to fix, prop up, support, stay”), from estaye, estaie (“a prop, stay”), from Middle Dutch staeye (“a prop, stay”), a contracted form of staede, stade (“a prop, stay, help, aid”) (compare Middle Dutch staeyen, staeden (“to make firm, stay, support, hold still, stabilise”)), from Proto-West Germanic *stadi (“a site, place, location, standing”), from Proto-Germanic *stadiz (“a standing, place”), from Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂tis (“standing”). Influenced by Old English stæġ ("a stay, rope"; see below). Cognate with Old English stede (“a place, spot, locality, fixed position, station, site, standing, status, position of a moving body, stopping, standing still, stability, fixity, firmness, steadfastness”), Swedish stödja (“to prop, support, brace, hold up, bolster”), Icelandic stöðug (“continuous, stable”). More at stead, steady. Sense of "remain, continue" may be due to later influence from Old French ester, esteir (“to stand, be, continue, remain”), from Latin stāre (“stand”), from the same Proto-Indo-European root above; however, derivation from this root is untenable based on linguistic and historical grounds. An alternative etymology derives Old French estaye, estaie, from Frankish *stakā, *stakō (“stake, post”), from Proto-Germanic *stakô (“stake, bar, stick, pole”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- (“rod, pole, stick”), making it cognate with Old English staca (“pin, stake”), Old English stician (“to stick, be placed, lie, remain fixed”). Cognate with Albanian shtagë (“a long stick, a pole”). More at stake, stick.
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.
STAY in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 5 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 7, 28 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 60, 19 July 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 63 days.
First found by a player on Day 7, 28 May 2026.
Built from these letters
STAY starts with S and ends with Y. Sorted, its letters read ASTY - 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 STAY
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 7
Could you have found STAY?
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 7 - and most players walked straight past it.
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