The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
DESPERATION
Definition of DESPERATION
noun
The act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English desperacion, desperacioun, desperation, disparacion, disperacion, disperacioun, dispiracioune, dysperacioun, from Middle French desperation and its etymon Latin dēspērātiō, dēspērātiōnis. By surface analysis, desperate + -ion.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
1st
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
30.7%
of traced words share this origin (23,888)
branch · 30.7% of traced words
How it is built
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
DESPERATION in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 35 boards so far. 78 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 25, 14 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 152, 19 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 3 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
DESPERATION starts with D and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read ADEEINOPRST - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. E appears more than once.
Words that start DESPERA
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 25
Could you have found DESPERATION?
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