The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
PROBLEMATIC
Definition of PROBLEMATIC
adjective
Posing a problem; having or suffering from problem(s): Difficult to overcome, solve, or decide. Not settled, uncertain, of uncertain outcome; debatable, questionable, open to doubt.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Middle French problématique, from Late Latin problematicus, from Ancient Greek προβληματικός (problēmatikós), from πρόβλημα (próblēma, “outjutting, barrier, problem”), from προβάλλω (probállō, “I throw, place before”), from πρό (pró, “before”) + βάλλω (bállō, “I throw, place”). By surface analysis, problem + -atic.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
12.7%
of traced words share this origin (3,854)
branch · 12.7% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, PROBLEMATIC · 1 relative 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.
PROBLEMATIC in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 36 boards so far. 103 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 8, 29 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 150, 17 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 5 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 8, 29 May 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
PROBLEMATIC starts with P and ends with C. Sorted, its letters read ABCEILMOPRT - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start PROBLEM
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 8
Could you have found PROBLEMATIC?
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 8 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER