The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
ARSENIC
Definition of ARSENIC
noun
A toxic grey brittle nonmetallic chemical element (symbol As) with an atomic number of 33.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English arsenik, borrowed from Middle French arsenic, from Latin arsenicum, from Ancient Greek ἀρσενικόν (arsenikón, “yellow arsenic”) (influenced by ἀρσενικός (arsenikós, “potent, virile”)), from Semitic (compare Classical Syriac ܙܪܢܝܟܐ (zarnīḵā), Aramaic 𐡆𐡓𐡍𐡉𐡊𐡀 (zrnykʾ /zarnīḵā/)), from Middle Iranian *zarnīk (compare Persian زرنیخ (zirnīx / zernix, zarnīx / zarnix, “arsenic”), زرنی (zurnī / zorni), Bakhtiari زرنیق (zarniq)), from Old Median *zaraniyakā (compare Avestan 𐬰𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬀 (zaraniia, “golden”), Old Persian 𐎭𐎼𐎴𐎡𐎹 (d-r-n-i-y /daraniya-/, “gold”), Sanskrit हिरण्य (híraṇya, “gold”), Persian زر (zar, “gold”)), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃-. More at yellow.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
8 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
3rd
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
9%
of traced words share this origin (2,614)
How it is built
Same root, ARSENIC · 1 relative in the game
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
ARSENIC in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 49 boards so far. 100 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 8, 29 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 145, 12 October 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 8, 29 May 2026.
Built from these letters
ARSENIC starts with A and ends with C. Sorted, its letters read ACEINRS - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
3 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start ARSENI
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 8
Could you have found ARSENIC?
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 8 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER