mystification
an act or instance of purposely causing someone to be perplexed or bewildered by playing on their ignorance, gullibility, or naiveté: As a mask for banality or an agent of mystification, the word “dialectical” is really quite wonderful.The author put titles at the top of certain pages—in a spirit of mystification, I suppose, since they do not illuminate the reader.
an act or instance of making something mysterious or obscure: Rejecting any effort to understand Hitler or the Holocaust can lead to a mystification of the past that thwarts all efforts to learn from it.
the state of being perplexed or puzzled: I felt pretty silly when, after a week of mystification, my techie friend explained how the remote worked.
Origin of mystification
1Other words from mystification
- o·ver·mys·ti·fi·ca·tion, noun
Words Nearby mystification
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use mystification in a sentence
Mr. Longdon's momentary mystification was perhaps partly but the natural effect of constitutional prudence.
The Awkward Age | Henry JamesFor a time mystification, then changing to weird fear, as a sense of the supernatural stole over him.
The Vee-Boers | Mayne ReidThe sanguine confidence of the community had not subsided into doubt so much as into helpless mystification.
In Connection with the De Willoughby Claim | Frances Hodgson BurnettThat was a case of high mystification, of jugglery worthy of a street-corner mountebank.
Mysterious Psychic Forces | Camille FlammarionAnd all life appears to Riabovich an absurd mystification and seems thoroughly senseless.
Contemporary Russian Novelists | Serge Persky
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