The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
DESERT
Definition of DESERT
noun
A barren area of land or desolate terrain, especially one with little water or vegetation; a wasteland. In particular, a barren, arid area of land which is hot, with sandy, rocky, or parched ground.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English desert (“wilderness”), from Old French desert, from Latin dēsertum, past participle of dēserō (“to abandon”). Generally displaced native Old English wēsten. False cognate of Egyptian dšrt.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
6th
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
4.1%
of traced words share this origin (1,218)
branch · 22.3% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, DESERT · 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.
DESERT in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 10 boards so far. 35 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 25, 14 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 133, 30 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 15 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 25, 14 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
DESERT starts with D and ends with T. Sorted, its letters read DEERST - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. E appears more than once.
Same letters, different word
2 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start DESERT
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 25
Could you have found DESERT?
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 25 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER