The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
SHADUF
Definition of SHADUF
noun
Alternative spelling of shadoof.
noun
A device used since ancient times in the Middle East to raise water from a well or other low point, consisting of a pivoted rod with a bucket on one end and a counterweight on the other.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Word DNA
SHADUF inherits its ancestry from its root, SHADOOF.
Line of descent
- Arabic
- English
One recorded step before English.
Deepest traced root
11th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
1.4%
of traced words share this origin (1,086)
branch · 2.1% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, SHADOOF · 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.
SHADUF in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 9 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 38, 27 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 148, 15 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 12 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 38, 27 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
SHADUF starts with S and ends with F. Sorted, its letters read ADFHSU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start SHADUF
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 38
Could you have found SHADUF?
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 38 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER