cryptic

[ krip-tik ]

/ ˈkrɪp tɪk /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR cryptic ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective Also cryp·ti·cal.

mysterious in meaning; puzzling; ambiguous: a cryptic message.

abrupt; terse; short: a cryptic note.

secret; occult: a cryptic writing.

involving or using cipher, code, etc.

Zoology. fitted for concealing; serving to camouflage.

noun

a cryptogram, especially one designed as a puzzle.

Words nearby cryptic

cryptanalysis, cryptanalytics, cryptanalyze, cryptectomy, cryptesthesia, cryptic, cryptitis, crypto, crypto-, crypto-jew, cryptoanalysis

Origin of cryptic

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

SYNONYMS FOR cryptic

1 enigmatic, perplexing.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR cryptic ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM cryptic

cryp·ti·cal·ly, adverbnon·cryp·tic, adjectivenon·cryp·ti·cal, adjectivenon·cryp·ti·cal·ly, adverb

synonym study for cryptic

1. See ambiguous.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for cryptic

Even as early as December 4, remarks from inside the bubble were cryptic and frightened.
Pyongyang Shuffle: Hollywood In Dead Panic Over Sony Hack|James Poulos|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He was like some cryptic English-Chekhovian figure, playing out the last days of his private, imagined Raj.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Kurant has crafted a new, cryptic narrative in which the three redundant characters come together in a wrecking yard.
CPR for Actors Killed By Tarantino and Coppola|Blake Gopnik|December 27, 2013|DAILY BEAST
I also think Damian Lewis's performance was stellar in episode after episode: vivid, cryptic, and (against all odds) believable.
‘Homeland’ Finale Shocker: A Death in the Family|Andrew Romano|December 16, 2013|DAILY BEAST

She wants an explanation of the cryptic glares and whispers, but they disappear.
This Week’s Hot Reads: April 29, 2013|G. Clay Whittaker, Jen Vafidis|April 29, 2013|DAILY BEAST
I confess I prefer Laforgue, who at his most cryptic is never so wildly tantalising as Rimbaud.
Ivory Apes and Peacocks|James Huneker
It is no longer a detail of the Strand, but a cryptic symbol of human life.
Prose Fancies (Second Series)|Richard Le Gallienne
They were a solid maze of unknown symbols and cryptic charts.
Planet of the Damned|Harry Harrison
And perhaps—or perhaps not—his British brain some day unraveled the meaning of cryptic retort.
Superwomen|Albert Payson Terhune
While the two men watched, Judith read back the cryptic information interpolated by the ship's mass-proximity detector.
The Women-Stealers of Thrayx|Fox B. Holden

British Dictionary definitions for cryptic

cryptic

cryptical

/ (ˈkrɪptɪk) /

adjective

hidden; secret; occult

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

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

Derived forms of cryptic

cryptically, adverb

Word Origin for cryptic

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

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

Medical definitions for cryptic

cryptic

[ krĭp′tĭk ]

n.

Hidden or concealed.

Tending to conceal or camouflage, as the coloring of an animal.

cryptic

adjective Also cryp·ti·cal.

noun

Words related to cryptic

Words nearby cryptic

Origin of cryptic

SYNONYMS FOR cryptic

OTHER WORDS FROM cryptic

synonym study for cryptic

Examples from the Web for cryptic

British Dictionary definitions for cryptic

cryptical

adjective

Derived forms of cryptic

Word Origin for cryptic

Medical definitions for cryptic

n.