The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
STENCH
Definition of STENCH
noun
a strong foul smell; a stink.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English stench, from Old English stenċ (“stench, odor, fragrance”), from Proto-Germanic *stankwiz (“smell, fragrance, odor”), from Proto-Indo-European *stengʷ- (“to push, thrust”). Cognate with Dutch stank (“stench, odor”), German Stank, Gestank (“stench, odor, smell”), Danish stank (“stench”), Swedish stank (“stench”), Icelandic stækja (“stench”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
3rd
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
8.9%
of traced words share this origin (2,623)
How it is built
Same root, STENCH · 2 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Danish, Dutch, Icelandic, Swedish.
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.
STENCH in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 20 boards so far. 32 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 23, 12 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 142, 9 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 6 days.
First found by a player on Day 23, 12 June 2026.
Built from these letters
STENCH starts with S and ends with H. Sorted, its letters read CEHNST - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start STENCH
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 23
Could you have found STENCH?
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 23 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER