enigma

American  

[uh-nig-muh] / əˈnɪg mə /

noun

PLURAL

enigmas

PLURAL

enigmata

1. a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence or situation.

   His disappearance is an enigma that has given rise to much speculation.

   Synonyms:

   problem

2. a person of puzzling or contradictory character.

   To me he has always been an enigma, one minute completely insensitive, the next moved to tears.

3. a saying, question, picture, etc., containing a hidden meaning; riddle.

4. (initial capital letter)  a German-built enciphering machine developed for commercial use in the early 1920s and later adapted and appropriated by German and other Axis powers for military use through World War II.

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enigma British  

/ ˌɛnɪɡˈmætɪk, ɪˈnɪɡmə /

noun

1. a person, thing, or situation that is mysterious, puzzling, or ambiguous

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Usage

What does enigma mean? An enigma is someone or something that’s puzzling, mysterious, or difficult to make sense of.The word enigma can also mean a riddle, but it’s more often used to refer to something that’s so perplexing that it seems like a riddle (and perhaps was intended to seem like one), as in That book is an enigma—I have no idea what it’s really about. If you call a person an enigma, you mean that they’re hard to figure out—the reasons behind what they say and do are not easily understood. Some people try to be enigmas to be mysterious.The adjective enigmatic can be used to describe someone or something that’s puzzling or mysterious.Example: I’ve known him for years, but he’s still a total enigma to me—I have no idea what his interests are or what he’s really like.

Related Words

See puzzle.

Other Word Forms

• enigmatic adjective
• enigmatically adverb

Etymology

Origin of enigma

First recorded in 1530–40; from Latin aenigma, from Greek aínigma, equivalent to ainik- (stem of ainíssesthai “to speak in riddles,” derivative of aînos fable) + -ma noun suffix of result

Example Sentences

“I’m kind of an enigma in the commercial industry.”

From Los Angeles Times

Artists know that enigmas bring us closer to the truth.

From Los Angeles Times

A great enigma of political psychology, the place to look might be the psyche of Rachel Maddow.

From The Wall Street Journal

"Our approach is very general and can open the doors to understand many of these processes that have remained an enigma for decades," says Deshpande.

From Science Daily

However, the fedora man remained an enigma - until now.

From BBC

Related Words

• conundrum
• puzzle