The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
RETROACTIVE
Definition of RETROACTIVE
adjective
Extending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
First attested in 1610. From French rétroactif, equivalent to retro- + active.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- French
- English
One recorded step before English.
Deepest traced root
5th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
7.2%
of traced words share this origin (2,000)
branch · 15.4% of traced words
How it is built
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
RETROACTIVE in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 1 board so far.
It first turned up on Day 138, 5 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 1 day.
First ever to find it
on Day 138, 5 October 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
RETROACTIVE starts with R and ends with E. Sorted, its letters read ACEEIORRTTV - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. R, E and T appear more than once.
Words that start RETROAC
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found RETROACTIVE?
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 138 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER