The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
CRUELS
Definition of CRUELS
noun
swelling in the lymph glands of neck, caused by scrofula
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Corrupted from French écrouelles (“scrofula”). Spelling influenced by cruel.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- French
- English
One recorded step before English.
Deepest traced root
5th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
5.3%
of traced words share this origin (4,125)
branch · 12.9% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, CRUEL · 5 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.
CRUELS in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 6 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 38, 27 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 114, 11 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 41 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 38, 27 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
CRUELS starts with C and ends with S. Sorted, its letters read CELRSU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
2 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Also seen on Day 38
Could you have found CRUELS?
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 38 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER