sphinx
- (in ancient Egypt)
- a figure of an imaginary creature having the head of a man or an animal and the body of a lion.
- (usually initial capital letter)the colossal recumbent stone figure of this kind near the pyramids of Giza.
- (initial capital letter) Classical Mythology. a monster, usually represented as having the head and breast of a woman, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. Seated on a rock outside of Thebes, she proposed a riddle to travelers, killing them when they answered incorrectly, as all did before Oedipus. When he answered her riddle correctly the Sphinx killed herself.
- any similar monster.
- a mysterious, inscrutable person or thing, especially one given to enigmatic questions or answers.
Origin of sphinx
Related Words
riddleconundrumsubtletyquestionenigmasecrecyproblemthrillerpuzzlementpuzzlemystificationperplexitysticklercliffhangertwisteroccultcryptogramcruxdifficultyposerExamples from the Web for sphinx
Contemporary Examples
Dulles, Moses recalls, sat as silent as a sphinx, and the meeting ended inconclusively.
The first cat on the catwalk (sorry, we had to) was Vengeance, a 12-week-old Sphinx in an argyle sweater.
Kitty CATure Fashion Show, An Amazing Dog and Cat Fashion Show, Happened In New York This WeekendLori-Lee Emshey
September 30, 2013
Next out was Madeline, a one-and-a-half year old Sphinx in a frilly pink ballerina outfit.
Kitty CATure Fashion Show, An Amazing Dog and Cat Fashion Show, Happened In New York This WeekendLori-Lee Emshey
September 30, 2013
Sphinx cats (think Mr. Bigglesworth) are apparently more likely to tolerate clothing, as they are naturally fur-less.
Kitty CATure Fashion Show, An Amazing Dog and Cat Fashion Show, Happened In New York This WeekendLori-Lee Emshey
September 30, 2013
Betty smiles so rarely on Mad Men that when she does it holds special importance, akin to a sphinx letting her guard down.
Historical Examples
The sphinx did not slay herself until her riddle had been guessed.
The Hall of Fantasy (From "Mosses From An Old Manse")Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Sphinx is a woman, as I will insist to my dying day, if it were my last word!
It Happened in EgyptC. N. Williamson
Probably King Harmachis had the Sphinx altered to look like him.
It Happened in EgyptC. N. Williamson
Which do you find more impressive, the Sphinx or the Pyramids?
It Happened in EgyptC. N. Williamson
He became an inexplicable creature; a breeched and booted Sphinx.
Life And Adventures Of Martin ChuzzlewitCharles Dickens
sphinx
- any of a number of huge stone statues built by the ancient Egyptians, having the body of a lion and the head of a man
- an inscrutable person
Sphinx
- Greek myth a monster with a woman's head and a lion's body. She lay outside Thebes, asking travellers a riddle and killing them when they failed to answer it. Oedipus answered the riddle and the Sphinx then killed herself
- the huge statue of a sphinx near the pyramids at El Gîza in Egypt, of which the head is a carved portrait of the fourth-dynasty Pharaoh, Chephrēn
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for sphinx
n.
early 15c., "monster of Greek mythology," from Latin Sphinx, from Greek Sphinx, literally" the strangler," a back-formation from sphingein "to squeeze, bind" (see sphincter).
Monster, having a lion's (winged) body and a woman's head, that waylaid travelers around Thebes and devoured those who could not answer its questions; Oedipus solved the riddle and the Sphinx killed herself. The proper plural would be sphinges. Transferred sense of "person or thing of mysterious nature" is from c.1600. In the Egyptian sense (usually male and wingless) it is attested from 1570s; specific reference to the colossal stone one near the pyramids as Giza is attested from 1610s.
Sphinx
In the story of Oedipus, a winged monster with the head of a woman and the body of a lion. It waylaid travelers on the roads near the city of Thebes and would kill any of them who could not answer this riddle: “What creatures walk on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon, and on three legs in the evening?” Oedipus finally gave the correct answer: human beings, who go on all fours as infants, walk upright in maturity, and in old age rely on the “third leg” of a cane.