mystic

[mis-tik]

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adjective

involving or characterized by esoteric, otherworldly, or symbolic practices or content, as certain religious ceremonies and art; spiritually significant; ethereal.

of the nature of or pertaining to mysteries known only to the initiated: mystic rites.

of occult character, power, or significance: a mystic formula.

of obscure or mysterious character or significance.

of or relating to mystics or mysticism.

noun

a person who claims to attain, or believes in the possibility of attaining, insight into mysteries transcending ordinary human knowledge, as by direct communication with the divine or immediate intuition in a state of spiritual ecstasy.

a person initiated into religious mysteries.

Origin of mystic

1275–1325; Middle English mystik < Latin mysticus < Greek mystikós, equivalent to mýst(ēs) an initiate into the mysteries + -ikos -ic; akin to myeîn to initiate, teach

Related formsmys·tic·i·ty

[mi-stis-i-tee] /mɪˈstɪs ɪ ti/, nounmys·tic·ly, adverban·ti·mys·tic, adjective, nounnon·mys·tic, adjective, nounsem·i·mys·tic, adjectiveun·mys·tic, adjective

Mystic

[mis-tik]

noun

a section of Groton, in SE Connecticut: maritime museum.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for mystic

mystical, otherworldly, supernatural, occult, imaginary, visionary, magic, spiritual, abstruse, anagogic, arcane, cabalistic, cryptic, esoteric, hidden, impenetrable, inscrutable, magical, metaphysical, mysterious

Examples from the Web for mystic

Contemporary Examples of mystic

At Temple, Coltrane no longer operated as a jazz artist improvising melodies, but more like a mystic on a vision quest.
What if Jazz Giant John Coltrane Had Lived?
Ted Gioia
September 14, 2014
The other night, quite by chance, I came across some lines in Rumi, the 13th-century poet—a Sufi mystic from Persia.
Only Iraq Can Save Itself From Chaos
Jay Parini
June 26, 2014
Then bed down in the seaside town of Mystic, Connecticut, with views of the wharf from your private room at the Steamboat Inn.
The U.S. Road Trips You Should Really Take
Lonely Planet
April 26, 2014
It revealed his vulnerability to ideas, ideology, and mystic hoo-ha.
Norman Mailer: A Life Lived Loud
Adam Begley
October 20, 2013
"The yuppies are coming," a cop complains in Mystic River, like a 21st-century Paul Revere.
Enough With the Boston Movies!
Ben Crair
December 9, 2010

Historical Examples of mystic

It is bitter in Baudelaire, sweet and plaintive in Lamartine, mystic in Verlaine.
De Profundis
Oscar Wilde
You were in a poppy sleep on the mystic flowers of ancient dreams.
Quaint Courtships
Various
There was that mystic depth of expression which comes from ancient Egypt.
The Slave Of The Lamp
Henry Seton Merriman
But they are, above all, the thoughts of a mystic, moving in a Divine presence.
A Writer's Recollections (In Two Volumes), Volume I
Mrs. Humphry Ward
This, then, was that mystic past against which her figure had stood out!
Cleo The Magnificent
Louis Zangwill

British Dictionary definitions for mystic

mystic

noun

a person who achieves mystical experience or an apprehension of divine mysteries

adjective

another word for mystical

Word Origin for mystic

C14: via Latin from Greek mustikos, from mustēs mystery initiate; related to muein to initiate into sacred rites

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

Word Origin and History for mystic

adj.

late 14c., "spiritually allegorical, pertaining to mysteries of faith," from Old French mistique "mysterious, full of mystery" (14c.), or directly from Latin mysticus "mystical, mystic, of secret rites" (source also of Italian mistico, Spanish mistico), from Greek mystikos "secret, mystic, connected with the mysteries," from mystes "one who has been initiated" (see mystery (n.1)). Meaning "pertaining to occult practices or ancient religions" first recorded 1610s.

"exponent of mystical theology," 1670s, from mystic (adj.). In Middle English, the noun meant "symbolic meaning, interpretation" (early 14c.).

Mystic

place name in Connecticut, U.S., deformed from Algonquian missituk "great tidal river," from missi "large" + -tuk "tidal river."