The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
DILATORY
Definition of DILATORY
adjective
Intentionally delaying (someone or something), intended to cause delay, gain time, or adjourn decision.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English dilatorie, from Old French dilatoire, from Latin dīlātōrius (“extending or putting off (time)”), from dīlātor, from differō. Not etymologically related to delay.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
1st
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
33.1%
of traced words share this origin (9,643)
branch · 33.1% 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.
DILATORY in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 55 boards so far. 167 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 27, 16 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 144, 11 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 3 days.
First found by a player on Day 27, 16 June 2026.
Built from these letters
DILATORY starts with D and ends with Y. Sorted, its letters read ADILORTY - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
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 DILATO
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 27
Could you have found DILATORY?
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 27 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER