The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
FRICTION
Definition of FRICTION
noun
The rubbing of one object or surface against another.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle French friction and directly from Latin frictionem, nom. frictio (“a rubbing, rubbing down”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Latin
- Middle French
- English
2 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, FRICTION · 4 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.
FRICTION in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 39 boards so far. 60 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 28, 17 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 178, 14 November 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First ever to find it
on Day 28, 17 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
FRICTION starts with F and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read CFIINORT - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. I appears more than once.
Words that start FRICTI
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 28
Could you have found FRICTION?
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 28 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER