The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
FADE
Definition of FADE
adjective
Weak; insipid; tasteless.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English fade, vad, vade (“faded, pale, withered, weak”), from Middle Dutch vade (“weak, faint, limp”), from Old French fade (“weak, witless”), of obscure origin. Probably from Vulgar Latin *fatidus, from Latin fatuus (“insipid”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
1st
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
30.7%
of traced words share this origin (26,450)
branch · 30.7% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, FADE · 8 relatives in the game
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
FADE in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 25 boards so far. 35 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 2, 23 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 171, 7 November 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 7 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 2, 23 May 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
FADE starts with F and ends with E. Sorted, its letters read ADEF - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
One other word uses exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start FADE
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 2
Could you have found FADE?
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 2 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER