The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
SHIELDING
Definition of SHIELDING
verb
present participle and gerund of shield
noun
Anything that protects or defends; defense; shelter; protection. A broad piece of defensive armor, held in hand, formerly in general use in war, for the protection of the body. One who protects or defends. A featherless, flat, fleshy protuberance on the head; a frontal shield. A flattish patch of iridescent feathers. A heavily hardened, protective plate on an insect's exoskeleton that covers part of its body. In lichens, a hardened cup or disk surrounded by a rim and containing the fructification, or asci. A framework used to protect workmen in making an adit under ground, and capable of being pushed along as excavation progresses. A field of energy that protects or defends.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Word DNA
SHIELDING inherits its ancestry from its root, SHIELD.
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.4%
of traced words share this origin (11,166)
How it is built
Same root, SHIELD · 4 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Czech, Danish, Dutch, Icelandic, Irish, Latin, Norwegian, Polish and 4 more.
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.
SHIELDING in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 21 boards so far. 30 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 28, 17 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 151, 18 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 4 days.
First found by a player on Day 28, 17 June 2026.
Built from these letters
SHIELDING starts with S and ends with G. Sorted, its letters read DEGHIILNS - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. I appears more than once.
Words that start SHIELD
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 28
Could you have found SHIELDING?
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 28 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER