The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
MERCIFUL
Definition of MERCIFUL
adjective
Showing mercy.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English merciful, mercyful, equivalent to mercy + -ful. Displaced native Old English mildheort.
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.
MERCIFUL in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 17 boards so far. 25 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 23, 12 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 101, 29 August 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 1 day.
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
MERCIFUL starts with M and ends with L. Sorted, its letters read CEFILMRU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
One other word uses exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start MERCIF
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 23
Could you have found MERCIFUL?
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