The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
LEADER
Definition of LEADER
noun
Any person who leads or directs. One who goes first.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Inherited from Middle English ledere, from Old English lǣdere, from Proto-West Germanic *laidijārī, from *laidī (“leading, leadership”) + *-ārī, or from *laid (“leading”) + *-ārī. By surface analysis, lead + -er. Cognate with Scots leader (“leader”), West Frisian lieder (“leader”), Dutch leider (“leader”), German Leiter (“leader, conductor, manager”), Danish leder (“leader, manager”), Swedish ledare (“leader, conductor, director”), Icelandic leiðari (“leader, conductor”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
8th
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
3.1%
of traced words share this origin (905)
branch · 22.3% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, LEAD · 4 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Danish, Dutch, Icelandic, Scots, 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.
LEADER in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 9 boards so far. 11 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 25, 14 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 131, 28 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 17 days.
First found by a player on Day 25, 14 June 2026.
Built from these letters
LEADER starts with L and ends with R. Sorted, its letters read ADEELR - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. E appears more than once.
Same letters, different word
4 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start LEADER
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 25
Could you have found LEADER?
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 25 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER