The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
TORTOISE
Definition of TORTOISE
noun
Any of various land-dwelling reptiles, of the family Testudinidae or the order Testudines , whose body is enclosed in a shell (carapace plus plastron). The animal can withdraw its head and four legs partially into the shell, providing some protection from predators.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English tortuse, tortuce, tortuge, from Medieval Latin tortuca, of uncertain origin. May be from Late Latin tartarūcha, from tartarūchus, from Ancient Greek ταρταροῦχος (tartaroûkhos, literally “holder of Tartarus [the land of the damned dead in Greek myths]”), because it used to be thought that tortoises and turtles came from the underworld and they were commonly paired with such infernal beasts; see Τάρταρος (Tártaros). Or, from Latin tortus (“twisted”). The French-looking Modern English spelling tortoise may be influenced by porpoise. Displaced native Old English byrdling.
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.
TORTOISE in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 1 board so far. 12 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 106, 3 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 5 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 106, 3 September 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
TORTOISE starts with T and ends with E. Sorted, its letters read EIOORSTT - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. T and O appear more than once.
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 TORTOI
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found TORTOISE?
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 106 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER