The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
SHORTEN
Definition of SHORTEN
verb
To make shorter; to abbreviate.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English shortnen, schortenen, equivalent to short + -en (verbal suffix). In some senses, a continuation (in altered form) of Middle English schorten (“to make short, shorten”), from Old English sċortian (“to become short”), from Proto-Germanic *skurtōną (“to shorten”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
7th
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
3.4%
of traced words share this origin (976)
branch · 22.3% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, SHORTEN · 4 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.
SHORTEN in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 16 boards so far. 13 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 15, 4 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 142, 9 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 4 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 15, 4 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
SHORTEN starts with S and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read EHNORST - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
3 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start SHORTE
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 15
Could you have found SHORTEN?
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 15 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER