The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
CANTRIP
Definition of CANTRIP
noun
A spell or incantation; a trifling magic trick.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Other senses
CANTRIP carries 4 further meanings.
noun
A magic spell; a witch's trick.
noun
A deceptive move; a sham.
noun
A charm; a spell; an incantation.
noun
A piece of mischief artfully or adroitly performed; a trick.
Where it comes from
From Middle Scots cantrip, cantrap (“a magic charm; a trick”). Further origin obscure, but likely a corruption of Scottish Gaelic canntaireachd (identical to Irish cantaireacht), referring to a system of musical notation consisting of a series of otherwise meaningless syllables memorised by pipers in learning their tunes; this was then used similarly to abracadabra. Regardless of details, ultimately derived from Latin cantō (“to sing, chant, play an instrument”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Latin
- Scottish Gaelic
- Scots
- English
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
1st
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
33.1%
of traced words share this origin (9,643)
branch · 33.1% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, CANTRIP · 1 relative in the game
Its etymology also names Irish.
CANTRIP in a sentence
“Once inside, I dried myself with a cantrip and for the first time in three years, I marked the threshold with my musk.”
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
CANTRIP in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 39 boards so far. 133 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 42, 1 July 2026. The most recent board was Day 144, 11 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 2 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 42, 1 July 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
CANTRIP starts with C and ends with P. Sorted, its letters read ACINPRT - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that mean much the same
Near-synonyms of CANTRIP. Not interchangeable at the board - the grid decides that - but close in meaning.
Also seen on Day 42
Could you have found CANTRIP?
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 42 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER