cryptic
Americanadjective
-
mysterious in meaning; puzzling; ambiguous.
a cryptic message.
- Synonyms:
- enigmatic
-
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
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
Synonym Usage
See ambiguous.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cryptic
1595–1605; < Late Latin crypticus < Greek kryptikós hidden. See crypt, -ic
Explanation
"White bunny. Moon square." Do you understand what that means? Of course not! It's totally cryptic. Cryptic comments or messages are hard to understand because they seem to have a hidden meaning. Cryptic is from Late Latin crypticus, from Greek kryptos, "hidden." This Greek adjective is the source of the English noun crypt, referring to a room under a church in which dead people are buried. That might account for why the word cryptic has an eerie tone to it.
Vocabulary lists containing cryptic
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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.
Its plight is spelled out in US securities filings containing cryptic language.
From Barron's • Jun. 11, 2026
The lower courts would assume they still had to follow that precedent until it was overruled, rather than guess what a cryptic shadow docket order meant.
From Slate • Jun. 1, 2026
This is referred to as "cryptic mortality", which makes it difficult to estimate the scale of the problem.
From BBC • May 11, 2026
But when Google sent him a cryptic, legalistic email in early 2020 notifying him that the police were demanding access to some of his data, he was alarmed.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 26, 2026
There are already cryptic advertisements in the Personal columns of literary magazines, urging the purchase of electronic headsets for the training and regulation of one’s own brain waves, according to one’s taste.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
Definitions 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.
