The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
ZOETROPES
Definition of ZOETROPES
noun
plural of zoetrope
noun
An optical toy, in which figures made to revolve on the inside of a cylinder, and viewed through slits in its circumference, appear like a single figure passing through a series of natural motions as if animated or mechanically moved.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Word DNA
ZOETROPES inherits its ancestry from its root, ZOETROPE.
Line of descent
- Ancient Greek
- English
One recorded step before English.
Deepest traced root
3rd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
12.2%
of traced words share this origin (9,569)
branch · 12.2% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, ZOETROPE · 2 relatives 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.
ZOETROPES in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 6 boards so far. 37 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 29, 18 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 125, 22 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 33 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 29, 18 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
ZOETROPES starts with Z and ends with S. Sorted, its letters read EEOOPRSTZ - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. O and E appear more than once. It uses Z - among the least common letters in written English.
Also seen on Day 29
Could you have found ZOETROPES?
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 29 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER