The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
CHECKMATE
Definition of CHECKMATE
interjection
Word called out by the victor when making a move that wins the game.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English chekmat, from Old French eschec mat, from Arabic شَاه مَاتَ (šāh māta), from Classical Persian شاه مات (šāh māt, “the king [is] amazed”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
19th
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
0.5%
of traced words share this origin (159)
branch · 0.5% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, CHECKMATE · 2 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.
CHECKMATE in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 1 board so far.
It first turned up on Day 137, 4 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 8 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
CHECKMATE starts with C and ends with E. Sorted, its letters read ACCEEHKMT - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. C and E appear more than once.
Words that start CHECKM
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found CHECKMATE?
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