The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
ORDEAL
Definition of ORDEAL
noun
A trial in which the accused was subjected to a dangerous test (such as ducking in water), divine authority deciding the guilt of the accused.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English ordel, ordal, from Medieval Latin ordālium or inherited from its source Old English ordēl, ordāl (“ordeal, judgement”), from Proto-West Germanic *uʀdailī (“judgement”, literally “an out-dealing”), from *uʀdailijan (“to deal out; dispense”). For more, see Old English or-, English deal. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Uurdeel (“judgement; verdict”), West Frisian oardiel (“judgement”), Dutch oordeel (“judgement, discretion”), Low German Oordeel (“judgement; verdict”), German Urteil (“judgement, verdict”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
8th
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
3.1%
of traced words share this origin (889)
branch · 22.4% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, ORDEAL · 1 relative in the game
Its etymology also names Dutch.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
ORDEAL in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 14 boards so far. 16 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 24, 13 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 141, 8 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 2 days.
First found by a player on Day 24, 13 June 2026.
Built from these letters
ORDEAL starts with O and ends with L. Sorted, its letters read ADELOR - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
2 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Could you have found ORDEAL?
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 24 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER