cryptic
[ krip-tik ]
/ ˈkrɪp tɪk /
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.
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RELATED WORDS
enigmatic, ambiguous, veiled, equivocal, strange, arcane, mysterious, incomprehensible, vague, abstruse, apocryphal, cabalistic, dark, esoteric, evasive, hidden, inexplicable, murky, mystic, mystical
Nearby words
- cryptanalysis,
- cryptanalytics,
- cryptanalyze,
- cryptectomy,
- cryptesthesia,
- cryptitis,
- crypto,
- crypto-,
- crypto-jew,
- cryptoanalysis
Origin of cryptic
Synonym study
1. See ambiguous.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web 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
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
cryptic
1630s, "hidden, occult, mystical," from Late Latin crypticus, from Greek kryptikos "fit for concealing," from kryptos "hidden" (see crypt). Meaning "mysterious, enigmatic" is recorded from 1920. Related: Cryptically.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
cryptic
[ krĭp′tĭk ]
n.
Hidden or concealed.
Tending to conceal or camouflage, as the coloring of an animal.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.