The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.

SANCTIONS

/sæŋkʃənz/9 letters

Definition of SANCTIONS

noun

plural of sanction

SANCTION

noun

An approval, by an authority, generally one that makes something valid.

Wiktionary · CC BY-SA

Word DNA

SANCTIONS inherits its ancestry from its root, SANCTION.

Line of descent

  1. Latin
  2. Middle French
  3. English

2 recorded generations before English.

Latin

Deepest traced root

1st

of 59 source languages in OUTLIER

30.7%

of traced words share this origin (23,981)

Italic

branch · 30.7% of traced words

How it is built

noun2 syllables

Same root, SANCTION · 5 relatives in the game

Every Latin word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →

Rarity score
Withheld
Revealed only in play
Tier
Withheld
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.

SANCTIONS in OUTLIER

Players have found it on 1 board so far.

Day 1Day 158
Its one board, across 158 finished boards · taller bars are busier boards
1
Boards found on
140
First board
18
Days since seen

It first turned up on Day 140, 7 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 18 days.

First ever to find it

cjay90

on Day 140, 7 October 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers

Built from these letters

SANCTIONS
9
Letters
3
Vowels
6
Consonants
7
Different letters
3
Longest consonant run
2
Longest vowel run

SANCTIONS starts with S and ends with S. Sorted, its letters read ACINNOSST - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. S and N appear more than once.

Same letters, different word

One other word uses exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.

CANONISTS

Words that start SANCTI

Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.

Could you have found SANCTIONS?

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 140 - and most players walked straight past it.

Play today's OUTLIER