The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
VANGUARD
Definition of VANGUARD
noun
The leading units at the front of an army or fleet.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English vandgard, vaunte garde, vaunt garde, wantgard, from advaunte-garde, avauntgard with aphesis, from Old French avangarde, avant-garde, avantgarde, from avant (“before; in front”) + garde (“guard”). Doublet of avant-garde and vaward.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Old French
- Middle English
- English
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
9th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
2.9%
of traced words share this origin (873)
branch · 15.5% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, VANGUARD · 1 relative in the game
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
VANGUARD in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 52 boards so far. 221 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 13, 2 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 154, 21 October 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First ever to find it
on Day 13, 2 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
VANGUARD starts with V and ends with D. Sorted, its letters read AADGNRUV - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. A appears more than once.
Words that start VANGUA
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 13
Could you have found VANGUARD?
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 13 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER