The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
HELPLESS
Definition of HELPLESS
adjective
Unable to defend oneself.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English helples, from Old English *helplēas (“helpless”) from Proto-Germanic *helpōlausaz, equivalent to help + -less. Compare Dutch hulpeloos (“helpless”), German hilflos (“helpless”), Danish hjælpeløs (“helpless”) and Swedish hjälplös (“helpless”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
7th
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
3.3%
of traced words share this origin (976)
branch · 22.3% of traced words
How it is built
Its etymology also names Danish, Dutch, Swedish.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
HELPLESS in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 2 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 76, 4 August 2026. The most recent board was Day 118, 15 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 28 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 76, 4 August 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
HELPLESS starts with H and ends with S. Sorted, its letters read EEHLLPSS - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. E, L and S appear more than once, including a double letter.
Words that start HELPLE
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found HELPLESS?
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 76 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER