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DEAF
Definition of DEAF
adjective
Unable (or partially able) to hear.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English def, deef, from Old English dēaf, from Proto-West Germanic *daub (“deaf”), from Proto-Germanic *daubaz (“deaf or stunned”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“to whisk, smoke, darken, obscure”). Cognate with Ancient Greek τυφλός (tuphlós, “blind”). See also dumb. Doublet of daff, dof, and dowf. Cognate with Dutch doof, German taub, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål døv, Norwegian Nynorsk dauv, Swedish döv, Faroese deyvur, Icelandic daufur.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.2%
of traced words share this origin (12,281)
How it is built
Same root, DEAF · 5 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Ancient Greek, Danish, Dutch, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish.
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
DEAF in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 23 boards so far. 33 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 8, 29 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 178, 14 November 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 8, 29 May 2026.
Built from these letters
DEAF starts with D and ends with F. Sorted, its letters read ADEF - 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 DEAF
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 8
Could you have found DEAF?
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