The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
SMOOTH
Definition of SMOOTH
adjective
Having a texture that lacks friction. Not rough.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English smothe, smethe, from Old English smēþe, smōþ, both from Proto-West Germanic *smanþī, of unknown origin. Cognate with Scots smuith (“smooth”), Saterland Frisian smoud (“smooth”), Low German smood and smödig (“smooth, malleable, ductile”), Dutch smeuïg (“smooth”) (from earlier smeudig).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
8th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
3.3%
of traced words share this origin (2,708)
branch · 22.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, SMOOTH · 7 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Dutch, Scots.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
SMOOTH in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 6 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 15, 4 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 148, 15 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 15 days.
First found by a player on Day 33, 22 June 2026.
Built from these letters
SMOOTH starts with S and ends with H. Sorted, its letters read HMOOST - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. O appears more than once, including a double letter.
Same letters, different word
One other word uses exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start SMOOTH
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 15
Could you have found SMOOTH?
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