The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
CERTAIN
Definition of CERTAIN
adjective
Sure in one's mind, positive; absolutely confident in the truth of something.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English certeyn, certein, certain, borrowed from Old French certain, from a Vulgar Latin unattested form *certānus, extended form of Latin certus (“fixed, resolved, certain”), of the same origin as cretus, past participle of cernere (“to separate, perceive, decide”). Displaced native Middle English wis, iwis (“certain, sure”) (from Old English ġewiss (“certain, sure”)) and alternative Middle English spelling sertane (“some, certain”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
1st
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
33%
of traced words share this origin (9,457)
branch · 33% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, CERTAIN · 1 relative in the game
Its etymology also names Old English.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
CERTAIN in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 11 boards so far. 14 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 3, 24 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 130, 27 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 11 days.
First found by a player on Day 3, 24 May 2026.
Built from these letters
CERTAIN starts with C and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read ACEINRT - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
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 CERTAI
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 3
Could you have found CERTAIN?
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 3 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER