The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
UNDERLAY
Definition of UNDERLAY
verb
simple past of underlie
verb
To lie in a position directly beneath something. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English underleyen, from Old English underleċġan (“to underlay, prop, support”), equivalent to under- + lay. Cognate with Dutch onderleggen (“to lay or put under”), German unterlegen (“to underlay”), Swedish underlägga (“to underlay”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Old English
- Middle English
- English
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
6th
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
4.2%
of traced words share this origin (1,213)
branch · 22.3% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, UNDERLAY · 1 relative in the game
Its etymology also names Dutch, German, Swedish.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
UNDERLAY in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 30 boards so far. 41 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 35, 24 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 132, 29 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 14 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 35, 24 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
UNDERLAY starts with U and ends with Y. Sorted, its letters read ADELNRUY - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start UNDERL
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 35
Could you have found UNDERLAY?
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 35 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER