The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
EMERITUS
Definition of EMERITUS
adjective
Retired, but retaining an honorific version of a previous title.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
The adjective is a learned borrowing from Latin ēmeritus (“(having been) earned, (having been) merited; (having been) served, having done one’s service”), the perfect passive participle of ēmereō (“to earn, merit; to gain by service; (military) to complete one’s obligation to serve, to serve out one’s time”), from ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’) + mereō (“to deserve, merit; to acquire, earn, get, obtain; to render service to; to serve”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- (“to allot; to assign”)). The noun is derived from the adjective. The plural form emeriti is borrowed from Latin ēmeritī.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Proto-Indo-European
- Latin
- English
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
3rd
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
9%
of traced words share this origin (2,614)
How it is built
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
EMERITUS in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 40 boards so far. 159 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 13, 2 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 145, 12 October 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First ever to find it
on Day 13, 2 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
EMERITUS starts with E and ends with S. Sorted, its letters read EEIMRSTU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. E appears more than once.
Words that start EMERIT
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 13
Could you have found EMERITUS?
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 13 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER