The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
CHARCOAL
Definition of CHARCOAL
noun
impure carbon obtained by destructive distillation of wood or other organic matter, that is, heating it in the absence of oxygen.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English charcole, from charren (“to change, turn”) + cole (“coal”), from Old English cierran (“to change, turn”) + col (“coal”). By surface analysis, char (Etymology 3 [verb]) + coal.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Old English
- Middle English
- English
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
7th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
3.7%
of traced words share this origin (3,130)
branch · 22.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, CHARCOAL · 4 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.
CHARCOAL in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 2 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 137, 4 October 2026. The most recent board was Day 139, 6 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 33 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 137, 4 October 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
CHARCOAL starts with C and ends with L. Sorted, its letters read AACCHLOR - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. C and A appear more than once.
Words that start CHARCO
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found CHARCOAL?
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 137 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER