The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
FORMER
Definition of FORMER
adjective
Previous.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Inherited from Middle English former, comparative of forme (“first”), from Old English forma (“first”), descended from Proto-Germanic *frumô. Parallel to prior (via Latin), as comparative form from same Proto-Indo-European root. Related to first and fore (thence before), from Proto-Germanic.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.2%
of traced words share this origin (11,700)
How it is built
Same root, FORM · 12 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Latin.
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.
FORMER in OUTLIER
It has fitted 1 board so far.
It first turned up on Day 153, 20 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 12 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 155, 22 October 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
FORMER starts with F and ends with R. Sorted, its letters read EFMORR - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. R appears more than once.
Same letters, different word
One other word uses exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Could you have found FORMER?
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 153 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER