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DARLING
Definition of DARLING
noun
Often used as an affectionate term of address: a person who is very dear to one.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
The noun is derived from Middle English dereling, derelyng (“beloved person; beloved of God, devout Christian”), from Old English dīerling, dēorling (“favourite, darling; minion”), from Proto-West Germanic *diuriling, from Proto-Germanic *diurijalingaz, from *diurijaz (“beloved, dear; expensive”) (further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- (“hot, warm; to burn”), or *dweh₂- (“distant, long; to remove, separate”)) + *-ilingaz (suffix forming (diminutive) nouns with the sense of ‘belonging to; coming from’). By surface analysis, dear + -ling (suffix meaning ‘immature; small’). The adjective is from an attributive use of the noun. The verb is also derived from the noun.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
DARLING in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 22 boards so far. 26 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 8, 29 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 116, 13 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 3 days.
First found by a player on Day 8, 29 May 2026.
Built from these letters
DARLING starts with D and ends with G. Sorted, its letters read ADGILNR - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
One other word uses exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start DARLIN
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 8
Could you have found DARLING?
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 8 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER