The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
SHARPEN
Definition of SHARPEN
verb
To make sharp.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English scharpenen, scharpnen, equivalent to sharp + -en.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Middle English
- English
One recorded step before English.
Deepest traced root
4th
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
7.6%
of traced words share this origin (2,182)
branch · 22.4% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, SHARPEN · 3 relatives 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.
SHARPEN in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 35 boards so far. 61 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 25, 14 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 25, 14 June 2026.
Built from these letters
SHARPEN starts with S and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read AEHNPRS - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start SHARPE
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 25
Could you have found SHARPEN?
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 25 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER