mysteriously

American  

[mi-steer-ee-uhs-lee] / ˌmɪˈstɪər i əs li /

adverb

1. in a mysterious way.

---

Explanation

If something occurs in a strange or eerie way, you can say it happens mysteriously. Your little brother might mysteriously disappear every time the dog needs to be walked, for example. When something can't be easily explained, it happens mysteriously. Some people say that boats mysteriously disappear in a region of the Atlantic Ocean known as the Bermuda Triangle, and others tell stories of sick people being mysteriously healed by prayer. At the heart of mysteriously is the noun mystery, which had only a religious meaning until the late fourteenth century, and which is rooted in the the Greek word mysterion, "secret rite or doctrine."

Example Sentences

The Rolling Stones have mysteriously released a new limited edition single on vinyl only, under the band name The Cockroaches, further fueling speculation the British rockers are poised to drop a 25th studio album.

From Barron's • Apr. 13, 2026

And yet I remained, daily, mysteriously incapable of doing so.

From Salon • Feb. 19, 2026

This, too, is predictable, but it’s always a rough watch, whether it’s Ilia Malinin’s tumbles in men’s figure skating, or Mikaela Shiffrin’s mysteriously nondescript slalom run in the team combined event.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 15, 2026

A massive search effort is underway for a young woman who mysteriously vanished outside her Texas home on Christmas Eve, with law enforcement officials saying she could be in "imminent danger".

From BBC • Dec. 29, 2025

And he looked mysteriously and secretly at Mary Poppins as she stood down there on the hearth-rug.

From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers