The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
DESPAIR
Definition of DESPAIR
verb
To give up as beyond hope or expectation; to despair of.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English dispeir, from Anglo-Norman despeir and Old French desperer (from Latin dēspērō, dēspērāre), or desesperer, from des- (“dis-”) + esperer (“hope”). See also desperate. Displaced native Old English ormōdnes (“despair”) and Old English ortrīewan (“to despair”).
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.
DESPAIR in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 16 boards so far. 66 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 11, 31 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 102, 30 August 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 11, 31 May 2026.
Built from these letters
DESPAIR starts with D and ends with R. Sorted, its letters read ADEIPRS - 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 DESPAI
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 11
Could you have found DESPAIR?
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 11 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER