The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
SCURF
Definition of SCURF
noun
A skin disease.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Other senses
SCURF carries 4 further meanings.
noun
Scaly dry skin that has been exfoliated, such as dandruff.
noun
A loose scaly crust coating a surface, especially of a plant.
noun
Any of several fungal diseases of plants characterized by scaly lesions especially on underground parts, such as the tubers of potatoes.
noun
Scaly or flaky matter on the surface of the skin; the scarf-skin or epidermis exfoliated in fine shreds or scales.
Where it comes from
From scurf (“skin disease causing scabs or scales; flakes of skin that fall off due to a skin disease, etc.”), from Old English scurf, from Proto-Germanic *skurf- (“to gnaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off, sever; to divide, separate”). Cognate with Dutch schurft, German Schorf, Danish skurv, Swedish skorv.
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
14.2%
of traced words share this origin (11,575)
How it is built
Same root, SCURF · 5 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Danish, Dutch, Swedish.
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
SCURF in a sentence
“In addition to keeping the hair perfectly clean, this brushing prevents the possibility of any scurf or dandruff – and scurf is death to the hair.”
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
SCURF in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 45 boards so far. 67 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 42, 1 July 2026. The most recent board was Day 163, 30 October 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First ever to find it
on Day 42, 1 July 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
SCURF starts with S and ends with F. Sorted, its letters read CFRSU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that mean much the same
Near-synonyms of SCURF. Not interchangeable at the board - the grid decides that - but close in meaning.
Same letters, different word
One other word uses exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start SCURF
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 42
Could you have found SCURF?
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 42 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER