mysterious

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English

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Etymology

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From Middle French mystérieux. English mystery +‎ -ous.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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mysterious (comparative more mysterious, superlative most mysterious)

  1. Of unknown origin.
    Synonym: untraceable
    He received a mysterious phone call this morning.
  2. Having unknown qualities.
    Synonyms: esoteric, uncertain, undefined; see also Thesaurus:mysterious
    Hyponyms: anonymous, faceless, unexplored, unnamed, long-mysterious
    Our boss is a mysterious man who hardly ever meets with us.
    • 1780, William Cowper, “Light Shining out of Darkneſs”, in Twenty-ſix Letters on Religious Subjects [] To which are added Hymns [] [1], 4th edition, page 252:
      God moves in a myſterious way, / His wonders to perform; / He plants his footſteps in the ſea, / And rides upon the ſtorm.
  3. Difficult to understand.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:incomprehensible
    Why he left without saying goodbye is quite mysterious.
  4. Deliberately evasive or enigmatic.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:covert
    Stop being mysterious and just tell me what you want.

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.