The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
ELFIN
Definition of ELFIN
noun
An elf; an inhabitant of fairy-land.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English elven, from Old English elfen, ælfen (“nymph, spirit, fairy”), feminine of elf, ælf (“elf”), equivalent to elf + -in. Cognate with Middle High German elbinne (“a fairy, nymph”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Old English
- Middle English
- English
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
7th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
3.7%
of traced words share this origin (2,961)
branch · 22.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, ELFIN · 1 relative in the game
Its etymology also names German.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
ELFIN in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 59 boards so far. 205 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 22, 11 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 161, 28 October 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First ever to find it
on Day 22, 11 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
ELFIN starts with E and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read EFILN - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Also seen on Day 22
Could you have found ELFIN?
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 22 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER