The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
KERF
Definition of KERF
noun
The act of cutting or carving something; a stroke or slice.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English kerf, kirf, kyrf, from Old English cyrf (“an act of cutting, a cutting off; a cutting instrument”), from Proto-West Germanic *kurbi, from Proto-Germanic *kurbiz (“a cut; notch; clipping”), from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- (“to scratch”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Käärf, West Frisian kerf, Swedish korv. Related also to Dutch kerf, German Low German Karve, Karv, German Kerbe.
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.
KERF in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 29 boards so far. 42 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 23, 12 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 117, 14 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 2 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 23, 12 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
KERF starts with K and ends with F. Sorted, its letters read EFKR - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start KERF
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 23
Could you have found KERF?
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 23 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER