The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
PIERCE
Definition of PIERCE
verb
To puncture; to break through.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English perce, from conjugated forms of Old French percier such as (jeo) pierce (“I pierce”), probably from Vulgar Latin *pertūsiō, from Latin pertūsus, past participle of pertundō (“thrust or bore through”), from per- (“through”) + tundō (“beat, pound”). Displaced native Old English þȳrlian (literally “to hole”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
1st
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
30.6%
of traced words share this origin (25,170)
branch · 30.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, PIERCE · 7 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Old English.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
PIERCE in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 6 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 68, 27 July 2026. The most recent board was Day 159, 26 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 6 days.
First found by a player on Day 100, 28 August 2026.
Built from these letters
PIERCE starts with P and ends with E. Sorted, its letters read CEEIPR - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. E appears more than once.
Same letters, different word
2 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start PIERCE
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found PIERCE?
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 68 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER