The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
SELENIUM
Definition of SELENIUM
noun
A nonmetallic chemical element (symbol Se) with an atomic number of 34, used mainly in glassmaking and pigments and as a semiconductor.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From French sélénium, the name coined by Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1818 from Ancient Greek σελήνη (selḗnē, “moon”) in reference to original confusion with the similar element tellurium.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Ancient Greek
- Swedish
- French
- English
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
12.6%
of traced words share this origin (3,608)
branch · 12.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, SELENIUM · 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.
SELENIUM in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 57 boards so far. 404 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 14, 3 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 142, 9 October 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 14, 3 June 2026.
Built from these letters
SELENIUM starts with S and ends with M. Sorted, its letters read EEILMNSU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. E appears 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.
Words that start SELENI
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 14
Could you have found SELENIUM?
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 14 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER