The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
MALFUNCTION
Definition of MALFUNCTION
noun
Faulty functioning.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From mal- (“bad, incorrect”) + function.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
How it is built
Same root, MALFUNCTION · 2 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.
MALFUNCTION in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 3 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 145, 12 October 2026. The most recent board was Day 166, 2 November 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 2 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 145, 12 October 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
MALFUNCTION starts with M and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read ACFILMNNOTU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. N appears more than once.
Words that start MALFUNC
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found MALFUNCTION?
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 145 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER