The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
CARESS
Definition of CARESS
noun
An act of endearment; any act or expression of affection; an embracing, or touching, with tenderness.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From French caresse, from Italian carezza (“dear”), from Latin cārus (“dear”), from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂-, akin to Sanskrit काम (kāma, “love”). Doublet of karezza.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.2%
of traced words share this origin (11,554)
How it is built
Same root, CARESS · 1 relative in the game
Its etymology also names Sanskrit.
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.
CARESS in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 2 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 90, 18 August 2026. The most recent board was Day 140, 7 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 22 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 90, 18 August 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
CARESS starts with C and ends with S. Sorted, its letters read ACERSS - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. S appears more than once, including a double letter.
Same letters, different word
6 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start CARESS
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found CARESS?
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 90 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER