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VEXATION
Definition of VEXATION
noun
The action of vexing, annoying, or irritating someone or something; an instance of this. The action of physically annoying or irritating a person or an animal; an instance of this; also, a physical discomfort or disorder. The action of vexing or annoying someone by bringing unjustified legal proceedings against them; an instance of this.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Late Middle English vexacioun, vexation (“physical suffering; act of inflicting trouble (specifically through unjustified legal action); anxiety, mental distress; mental disturbance”), from Anglo-Norman vexacion, vexation, Middle French vexacion, vexation (“distress, suffering; harassment (specifically through unjustified legal action)”), and Old French vexacion, vexation (“distress, suffering; harassment”) (modern French vexation), and from their etymon Latin vexātiō (“shaking or similar violent movement; (causing of) agitation, distress, suffering; harassment, persecution; trouble”), from vexātus + -iō (suffix forming abstract nouns from verbs). Vexātus is the perfect passive participle of vexō (“to shake or jolt violently; to annoy, harass; to persecute; to trouble violently”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-. By surface analysis, vex + -ation (suffix denoting an action or process or its result, or a quality or state). Doublet of quake.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
6 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
3rd
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
8.9%
of traced words share this origin (2,623)
How it is built
Same root, VEXATION · 1 relative in the game
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.
VEXATION in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 17 boards so far. 257 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 65, 24 July 2026. The most recent board was Day 133, 30 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 15 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 65, 24 July 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
VEXATION starts with V and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read AEINOTVX - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram. It uses X - among the least common letters in written English.
Words that start VEXATI
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found VEXATION?
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 65 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER