The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
DARKEN
Definition of DARKEN
verb
To make dark or darker by reducing light.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English derkenen, dirkenen, from Old English *deorcnian, *diercnian (“to darken”), from Proto-West Germanic *dirkinōn (“to darken”), equivalent to dark + -en. Cognate with Scots derken, durken (“to darken”), Old High German tarchanjan, terchinen (“to darken”), Middle High German terken, derken (“to darken”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
8th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
3.3%
of traced words share this origin (2,636)
branch · 22.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, DARKEN · 2 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Scots.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
DARKEN in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 13 boards so far. 18 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 30, 19 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 148, 15 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 11 days.
First found by a player on Day 30, 19 June 2026.
Built from these letters
DARKEN starts with D and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read ADEKNR - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
3 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start DARKEN
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 30
Could you have found DARKEN?
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 30 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER