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SYLPH

/sɪlf/5 letters

Definition of SYLPH

noun

An invisible being of the air.

Wiktionary · CC BY-SA

Other senses

SYLPH carries 4 further meanings.

  1. noun

    A slim, graceful woman or girl.

  2. noun

    In the occult philosophy of Paracelsus, a being that has air as its element.

  3. noun

    An imaginary being inhabiting the air; an elemental spirit of the air, according to the system of Paracelsus, holding an intermediate place between material and immaterial beings.

  4. noun

    In ornithology, one of various humming-birds with long forficate tail: so called from their grace and beauty: as, the blue-tailed sylph, Cynanthus forficatus. See cut under sappho.

Where it comes from

First attested in 1657. From New Latin sylphes, coined by Paracelsus in the 16th century. The coinage may derive from Latin sylvestris (“of the woods”) and nympha (“nymph”). Ultimately from the root silva (“woods, forest”). Related to sylvan. More at Wikipedia.

Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).

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.

SYLPH in OUTLIER

Players have found it on 54 boards so far. 232 players have found it across Outlier's history.

Day 1Day 102
Its 54 boards, across 102 finished boards · taller bars are busier boards
54
Boards found on
18
First board
102
Latest board
4
Longest gap, days

It first turned up on Day 18, 7 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 102, 30 August 2026. It was on the latest finished board.

First ever to find it

winnerjuliana

on Day 18, 7 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers

Built from these letters

SYLPH
5
Letters
0
Vowels
5
Consonants
5
Different letters
5
Longest consonant run
0
Longest vowel run

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

Words that mean much the same

Near-synonyms of SYLPH. Not interchangeable at the board - the grid decides that - but close in meaning.

ARIELBANSHEEBEFINDCORRIGANFINNBEARAMABOBERONTITANIA

Words that start SYLPH

Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.

Could you have found SYLPH?

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 18 - and most players walked straight past it.

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from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

from The Century Dictionary.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

Senses and citation via Wordnik.