The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
SERIOUS
Definition of SERIOUS
adjective
Without humor or expression of happiness; grave in manner or disposition.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English seryows, from Old French serieux, from Medieval Latin sēriōsus, an extension of Latin sērius (“grave, earnest, serious”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“heavy”). (If this root is correct, cognate with German schwer (“heavy, difficult, severe”), Old English swǣr (“heavy, grave, grievous”). More at swear, sweer. (However, see sērius for an alternative derivation of the Latin.)
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.2%
of traced words share this origin (11,769)
How it is built
Its etymology also names German, Old English.
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
SERIOUS in OUTLIER
It has fitted 1 board so far.
It first turned up on Day 153, 20 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 13 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 118, 15 September 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
SERIOUS starts with S and ends with S. Sorted, its letters read EIORSSU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. S appears more than once.
Words that start SERIOU
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found SERIOUS?
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 153 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER