enigma
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2 ENTRIES FOUND:

enig·ma

noun \i-ˈnig-mə, e-\

Definition of ENIGMA

1
: an obscure speech or writing
2
: something hard to understand or explain
3
: an inscrutable or mysterious person

Examples of ENIGMA

  1. To his friends, he was always something of an enigma.
  2. one of the great enigmas of our time
  3. Despite the enigma of the singularity, the big bang theory is unquestionably one of the most successful ideas in the history of science. —Tom Yulsman, Astronomy, September 1999

Origin of ENIGMA

Latin aenigma, from Greek ainigmat-, ainigma, from ainissesthai to speak in riddles, from ainos fable
First Known Use: 1539

Other Literature Terms

apophasis, bathos, bildungsroman, bowdlerize, caesura, coda, doggerel, euphemism, poesy, prosody

Rhymes with ENIGMA

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