The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
SYNCOPATE
Definition of SYNCOPATE
verb
to omit a vocalic or consonantal sound or a syllable from a word; to use syncope
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Other senses
SYNCOPATE carries 4 further meanings.
transitive verb
To shorten (a word) by syncope.
transitive verb
To modify (rhythm) by syncopation.
To contract, as a word, by taking one or more letters or syllables from the middle, as exemplified in Gloster for Gloucester.
In music, to affect by syncopation.
Where it comes from
From Medieval Latin syncopātus, past participle of syncopō, from Late Latin syncopa, from Ancient Greek σύν (sún, “with”) + κόπτω (kóptō, “cut”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Ancient Greek
- Latin
- English
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
12.6%
of traced words share this origin (3,608)
branch · 12.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, SYNCOPATE · 2 relatives in the game
SYNCOPATE in a sentence
“Every ragtime or jazz enthusiast knows that when you syncopate from the Greek for “cut short”, you begin a note on a weak beat in the bar, sustaining it into the accented part, thereby shifting the accent.”
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
SYNCOPATE in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 40 boards so far. 126 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 32, 21 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 142, 9 October 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First ever to find it
on Day 32, 21 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
SYNCOPATE starts with S and ends with E. Sorted, its letters read ACENOPSTY - 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 SYNCOPATE. Not interchangeable at the board - the grid decides that - but close in meaning.
Words that start SYNCOP
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 32
Could you have found SYNCOPATE?
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 32 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER