The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
THORN
Definition of THORN
noun
A modified branch that is hard and sharp like a spike.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English thorn, þorn, from Old English þorn, from Proto-West Germanic *þorn, from Proto-Germanic *þurnaz, from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥nós, from *(s)ter- (“stiff”). Near cognates include West Frisian toarn, Low German Doorn, Dutch doorn, German Dorn, Danish and Norwegian torn, Swedish torn, törne, Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽𐌿𐍃 (þaurnus). Further cognates include Old Church Slavonic трънъ (trŭnŭ, “thorn”), Russian тёрн (tjorn), Polish cierń, Kamkata-viri taňi, tai (“thorn”), Sanskrit तृण (tṛ́ṇa, “grass”).
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.
THORN in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 16 boards so far. 23 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 8, 29 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 114, 11 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 2 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 8, 29 May 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
THORN starts with T and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read HNORT - 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 THORN
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 8
Could you have found THORN?
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 8 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER