The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
DESPERATE
Definition of DESPERATE
adjective
In dire need (of something); having a dire need or desire.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English desperat(e) (“desperate”), borrowed from Latin dēspērātus, perfect passive participle of dēspērō (“to be without hope”), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix). The noun is derived from the adjective or from the Latin source through substantivization, see -ate (noun-forming suffix).
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.
DESPERATE in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 2 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 113, 10 September 2026. The most recent board was Day 120, 17 September 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 120, 17 September 2026.
Built from these letters
DESPERATE starts with D and ends with E. Sorted, its letters read ADEEEPRST - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. E appears more than once.
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 DESPER
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found DESPERATE?
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 113 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER