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FRAY
Definition of FRAY
verb
To rub or wear away (something); to cause (something made of strands twisted or woven together, such as cloth or rope) to unravel through friction; also, to irritate (something) through chafing or rubbing; to chafe. Of a deer: to rub (its antlers or head) against a tree, etc., to remove the velvet from antlers or to mark territory; also, to rub its antlers against (a tree, etc.) for that purpose. To force or make (a path, way, etc.) through. To bruise (someone or something); also, to take the virginity of (someone, usually a female person); to deflower.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
The verb is derived from Late Middle English fraien (“to beat so as to cause bruising, to bruise; to crush; to rub; to wear, wear off”), borrowed from Old French fraier, freier, freiier (modern French frayer (“to clear, open up (a path, etc.); (figuratively) to find one’s way through (something); (obsolete) to rub”)), from Latin fricāre, the present active infinitive of fricō (“to chafe; to rub”), an intensive form of friō (“to break into pieces, crumble; to rub”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreyH- (“to cut”). Sense 1.2 (“to force or make (a path, way, etc.) through”) is derived from modern French frayer: see above. The noun is derived from the verb.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
FRAY in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 21 boards so far. 27 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 2, 23 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 119, 16 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 2 days.
First found by a player on Day 2, 23 May 2026.
Built from these letters
FRAY starts with F and ends with Y. Sorted, its letters read AFRY - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start FRAY
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 2
Could you have found FRAY?
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