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RECESS

/ɹɪˈsɛs/6 letters

Definition of RECESS

noun

A depressed, hollow, or indented space; also, a hole or opening.

Wiktionary · CC BY-SA

Where it comes from

The noun is borrowed from Latin recessus (“act of going back, departure, receding, retiring; (figuratively) retreat, withdrawal; (metonymically) distant, secluded, or secret spot, corner, nook, retreat; recessed part, indentation”) (also Late Latin recessus (“decree or resolution of the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire”)), from recēdō (“to go back, recede, retire, withdraw; to go away, depart; (by extension) to disappear, vanish; to separate; to stand back, be distant; to yield”) (from re- (prefix meaning ‘back, backwards’) + cēdō (“to go, move, proceed”)) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs); influenced by Middle French recès, French recès (“a break, pause; break between classes in school; school vacation; ebbing of tide; reduction”) (also Anglo-Norman recès and Old French recès (“hiding place; hollow”). Noun sense 5 (“decree or resolution of the diet of the Holy Roman Empire, etc.”) is possibly influenced by Italian recesso and refers to a decree or resolution made just before a meeting ends. The adjective and verb are derived from the noun.

Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).

Rarity score
Withheld
Revealed only in play
Tier
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Find it yourself

OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.

RECESS in OUTLIER

Players have found it on 1 board so far.

Day 1Day 102
Its one board, across 102 finished boards · taller bars are busier boards
1
Boards found on
90
First board
12
Days since seen

It first turned up on Day 90, 18 August 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 12 days.

First found by a player on Day 90, 18 August 2026.

Built from these letters

RECESS
6
Letters
2
Vowels
4
Consonants
4
Different letters
2
Longest consonant run
1
Longest vowel run

RECESS starts with R and ends with S. Sorted, its letters read CEERSS - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. E and S appear more than once, including a double letter.

Same letters, different word

2 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.

CESSERSCREES

Words that start RECESS

Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.

RECESSEDRECESSESRECESSINGRECESSIONRECESSIVERECESSIONSRECESSIVESRECESSIONALRECESSIVELYRECESSIONALSRECESSIONARYRECESSIVENESS

Could you have found RECESS?

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 90 - and most players walked straight past it.

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