The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
THUG
Definition of THUG
noun
A person who is a member of a gang or criminal organization.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Hindustani ठग (ṭhag) / ٹھگ (ṭhag, “swindler, fraud, cheat”), further derived from Prakrit 𑀞𑀕 (ṭhaga), of uncertain origin. See there for more. Thuggee was a network of gangs in India from the 17th century to the 19th century who robbed and murdered travellers, often by strangling. During British Imperial rule of India, many Indian words passed into common English, and by 1810 thug referred to a member of these Indian gangs. The sense was adopted more generally as "ruffian, cutthroat, and cruel robber" by 1839. Perhaps related to English thatch, deck.
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.
THUG in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 6 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 1, 22 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 109, 6 September 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 30, 19 June 2026.
Built from these letters
THUG starts with T and ends with G. Sorted, its letters read GHTU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start THUG
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 1
Could you have found THUG?
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 1 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER