cryptic

[ krip-tik ]
See synonyms for cryptic on Thesaurus.com
adjectiveAlso cryp·ti·cal.
  1. mysterious in meaning; puzzling; ambiguous: a cryptic message.

  2. abrupt; terse; short: a cryptic note.

  1. secret; occult: a cryptic writing.

  2. involving or using cipher, code, etc.

  3. Zoology. fitted for concealing; serving to camouflage.

noun
  1. a cryptogram, especially one designed as a puzzle.

Origin of cryptic

1
1595–1605; <Late Latin crypticus<Greek kryptikós hidden. See crypt, -ic

synonym study For cryptic

1. See ambiguous.

Other words for cryptic

Other words from cryptic

  • cryp·ti·cal·ly, adverb
  • non·cryp·tic, adjective
  • non·cryp·ti·cal, adjective
  • non·cryp·ti·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use cryptic in a sentence

  • The announcement says cryptically that there will be a “daily limit” on such access for “some search engines.”

  • "That's one way for 'em to get blue jeans," said the driver cryptically.

    The Penal Cluster | Ivar Jorgensen (AKA Randall Garrett)
  • He replied cryptically that he was an out-and-out phagocyte, and getting more so every time he read a newspaper.

    The Wrong Twin | Harry Leon Wilson
  • "I repeat zat Golden Rule to myself every night and every morning, Ruthkin," said she, somewhat cryptically.

    West Wind Drift | George Barr McCutcheon
  • The engine bell clanged a warning, and the conductor shouted cryptically.

    Desert Conquest | A. M. Chisholm
  • "Mr. Byrd is going to paint me as something without a soul—I think I will dance," she cryptically vouchsafed.

    The Nest Builder | Beatrice Forbes-Robertson Hale

British Dictionary definitions for cryptic

cryptic

cryptical

/ (ˈkrɪptɪk) /


adjective
  1. hidden; secret; occult

  2. (esp of comments, sayings, etc) obscure in meaning

  1. (of the coloration of animals) tending to conceal by disguising or camouflaging the shape

Origin of cryptic

1
C17: from Late Latin crypticus, from Greek kruptikos, from kruptos concealed; see crypt

Derived forms of cryptic

  • cryptically, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012