The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
TENEBROUS
Definition of TENEBROUS
adjective
Dark and gloomy; obscure.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Other senses
TENEBROUS carries 4 further meanings.
adjective
Dark and gloomy.
Dark; gloomy.
adjective
Dark; gloomy; dusky; tenebrious.
adjective
Dark and gloomy.
Where it comes from
From Middle English tenebrose, from Anglo-Norman tenebrous (earlier tenebrus), from Latin tenebrōsus, itself from tenebrae (“darkness, shadows”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
1st
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
33.1%
of traced words share this origin (9,711)
branch · 33.1% of traced words
How it is built
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
TENEBROUS in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 56 boards so far. 213 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 19, 8 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 147, 14 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 2 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 19, 8 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
TENEBROUS starts with T and ends with S. Sorted, its letters read BEENORSTU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. E appears more than once.
Words that mean much the same
Near-synonyms of TENEBROUS. Not interchangeable at the board - the grid decides that - but close in meaning.
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 TENEBR
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 19
Could you have found TENEBROUS?
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 19 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER