The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
ENCUMBERS
Definition of ENCUMBERS
verb
third-person singular simple present indicative of encumber
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Another sense
ENCUMBERS carries a second meaning.
verb
Third-person singular simple present indicative form of encumber.
Word DNA
ENCUMBERS inherits its ancestry from its root, ENCUMBER.
Line of descent
- Old French
- Middle English
- English
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
9th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
2.9%
of traced words share this origin (2,360)
branch · 12.8% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, ENCUMBER · 4 relatives in the game
ENCUMBERS in a sentence
“"What encumbers your ability to innovate around the needs of students is traditions and structures," said George Davison , head of school at Grace Church.”
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
ENCUMBERS in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 28 boards so far. 85 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 34, 23 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 158, 25 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 5 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 41, 30 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
ENCUMBERS starts with E and ends with S. Sorted, its letters read BCEEMNRSU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. E appears more than once.
Words that start ENCUMB
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 34
Could you have found ENCUMBERS?
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 34 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER