The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
VARIOLATION
Definition of VARIOLATION
noun
The inoculation of a person with smallpox with the intention of inducing a mild form of the illness and subsequent immunity to the disease.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From variola + -ation.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
How it is built
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
VARIOLATION in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 12 boards so far. 17 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 48, 7 July 2026. The most recent board was Day 129, 26 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 22 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 48, 7 July 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
VARIOLATION starts with V and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read AAIILNOORTV - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. A, I and O appear more than once.
Words that start VARIOLA
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 48
Could you have found VARIOLATION?
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 48 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER