mysterious

[ mi-steer-ee-uhs ]

/ mɪˈstɪər i əs /

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See synonyms for mysterious on Thesaurus.com

adjective

full of, characterized by, or involving mystery: a mysterious occurrence.

implying or suggesting a mystery: a mysterious smile.

of obscure nature, meaning, origin, etc.; puzzling; inexplicable: a mysterious inscription on the ancient tomb.

OTHER WORDS FOR mysterious

1 secret, esoteric, occult, cryptic.

3 unfathomable, unintelligible, incomprehensible, enigmatic, impenetrable.

See synonyms for mysterious on Thesaurus.com

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ALL IN FAVO(U)R OF THIS BRITISH VS. AMERICAN ENGLISH QUIZ

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Origin of mysterious

First recorded in 1610–20; mystery¹ + -ous

synonym study for mysterious

1. Mysterious, inscrutable, mystical, obscure refer to that which is not easily comprehended or explained. That which is mysterious, by being unknown or puzzling, excites curiosity, amazement, or awe: a mysterious disease. Inscrutable applies to that which is impenetrable, so enigmatic that one cannot interpret its significance: an inscrutable smile. That which is mystical has a secret significance, such as that attaching to certain rites or signs: mystical symbols. That which is obscure is discovered or comprehended dimly or with difficulty: obscure motives.

OTHER WORDS FROM mysterious

mys·te·ri·ous·ly, adverbmys·te·ri·ous·ness, nounqua·si-mys·te·ri·ous, adjectivequa·si-mys·te·ri·ous·ly, adverb

un·mys·te·ri·ous, adjectiveun·mys·te·ri·ous·ly, adverbun·mys·te·ri·ous·ness, noun

Words nearby mysterious

mysophilia, mysophobia, Mysore, MySpace, mystagogue, mysterious, mystery, mystery bag, mystery play, mystery tour, mystic

How to use mysterious in a sentence

Something mysterious may help tip our minds from waking life into slumber.
Brain’s ‘Background Noise’ May Hold Clues to Persistent Mysteries|Elizabeth Landau|February 8, 2021|Quanta Magazine
By all accounts, Riddler Nation had a lot of fun hunting for the mysterious numbers a few weeks back.
Can You Randomly Move The Tower?|Zach Wissner-Gross|February 5, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
She goes back to this mysterious place and then we get her ashes.
How to Be Better at Death (Ep. 450)|Maria Konnikova|February 4, 2021|Freakonomics
Plenty of questions remain about mysterious matter and forces, about the beginnings and the end of the universe, about how the science of the big meshes with quantum mechanics, the science of the very small.
Einstein’s theory of general relativity unveiled a dynamic and bizarre cosmos|Elizabeth Quill|February 3, 2021|Science News

This mysterious ability to hop into someone else’s head—heck, even just to admit that they’re conscious beings with their own minds—is dubbed the “theory of mind.”
This Is Where Empathy Lives in the Brain, and How It Works|Shelly Fan|February 2, 2021|Singularity Hub
“Vicious pecking, avian hysteria, mysterious deaths, and even cannibalism” are the results, he writes.
The History of the Chicken: How This Humble Bird Saved Humanity|William O’Connor|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Perhaps the mysterious Martian methane, and its strange fluctuations, are part of that story.
Methane on Mars: Life or Just Gas?|Matthew R. Francis|December 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That reactivity paradoxically is what makes its sudden coming and going mysterious.
Methane on Mars: Life or Just Gas?|Matthew R. Francis|December 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Part of that was due to the elimination of the Mysterious Man.
Rob Marshall Defends ‘Into the Woods’|Kevin Fallon|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Like Fosse did with Cabaret, Marshall excised two major characters: the Narrator and the Mysterious Man.
Rob Marshall Defends ‘Into the Woods’|Kevin Fallon|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The explanation of his mysterious earlier moods offered itself with a clarity that was ghastly.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood
Lawrence handed the General the mysterious message and Schofield read it with a darkened brow.
The Courier of the Ozarks|Byron A. Dunn
This short interval had more than sufficed for De Lucenay's mysterious operations.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 372, October 1846|Various
After all she, Hilda, possessed some mysterious characteristic more potent than the elegance and the goodness of Janet Orgreave.
Hilda Lessways|Arnold Bennett
Between each group of figures the face of the rock was scored with mysterious signs and rudely limned weapons of war and chase.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair

British Dictionary definitions for mysterious

mysterious

/ (mɪˈstɪərɪəs) /

adjective

characterized by or indicative of mystery

puzzling, curious, or enigmatic

Derived forms of mysterious

mysteriously, adverbmysteriousness, noun

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

mysterious

OTHER WORDS FOR mysterious

Origin of mysterious

synonym study for mysterious

OTHER WORDS FROM mysterious

Words nearby mysterious

Words related to mysterious

How to use mysterious in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for mysterious

Derived forms of mysterious