enigma
Americannoun
-
enigmas,
plural
-
enigmata
plural (Chiefly Archaic)
-
a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence or situation.
His disappearance is an enigma that has given rise to much speculation.
- Synonyms:
- problem
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a person of puzzling or contradictory character.
To me he has always been an enigma, one minute completely insensitive, the next moved to tears.
-
a saying, question, picture, etc., containing a hidden meaning; riddle.
-
(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.
noun
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.
Synonym Usage
See puzzle.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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
Explanation
Use the noun enigma to refer to something that is a puzzle or a mystery. Why do you have to learn difficult words like this? That is an enigma. Traveling to English from Greek by means of the Latin word for "riddle," enigma refers to something or someone that is mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to figure out. Many things have been named Enigma, including a rock band, a video game, a rollercoaster ride, and a very famous coding machine used in World War II.
Vocabulary lists containing enigma
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"There remain some tough problems" which could stay an enigma for years to come, because there is less relevant data available to help AI figure them out, the 58-year-old told AFP.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
It came at a time when Spanish football was harder to consume for UK audiences, before the peak Revista de la Liga era, making McManaman, renowned for his dribbling and creativity, something of an enigma.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
For many Americans, the price of prescription drugs is an enigma.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
Enter Digby, a handsome, quick-witted and wealthy enigma who smells faintly of fig.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
And the more he enticed Joe to talk, the more Pocock began to plumb the inner workings of this enigma of a boy.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
It pitted the “unfledged, unarmed chemist” on one side, while “on the other side, responding with enigmas, stood Matter.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Despite decades of study, dark energy remains one of science's most puzzling enigmas.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2025
There are all these enigmas still lingering, enigmas intentionally left unresolved in the book.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2025
Helpfully, King hasn’t written any books specifically about Derry, granting the Muschiettis and co-showrunners Brad Caleb Kane and Jason Fuchs relative freedom to tease out what Andy describes as the book’s enigmas.
From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2025
As an incomparable solver of criminal enigmas, Stone is in a class by himself.
From A Man's Hearth by Eleanor M. (Eleanor Marie) Ingram
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
