cipher

noun, often attributive ci·pher \ ˈsī-fər \

|Updated on: 15 Aug 2018

Examples: cipher in a Sentence

Definition of cipher

1 a : zero 1a

b : one that has no weight, worth, or influence : nonentity

She was nothing more than a cipher.

2 a : a method of transforming a text in order to conceal its meaning

secret communications written in cipher

— compare code 3b

b : a message in code

The cipher cannot be decoded without the key.

3 : arabic numeral

4 : a combination of symbolic letters; especially : the interwoven initials of a name

coins that bore the cipher of the sultan

See cipher defined for English-language learners

See cipher defined for kids

Examples of cipher in a Sentence

a cipher that can't be decoded
She was nothing more than a cipher.

Recent Examples of cipher from the Web

Laurel remains a cipher, a comic type, a star without a name.

— jason zinoman, New York Times, "Imagining the Unhappy Life of Stan Laurel," 1 June 2018
Mike serves as a kind of cipher for this coming-of-age realization in the show.

— leah beckmann, The Cut, "Magic Mike Live: Las Vegas," 21 June 2018
The North Koreans passed the haul to their Russian sponsors, whose various military spy and cipher organs could read U.S. strategic and tactical communications for years afterwards.

— WSJ, "Pueblo Capture: A Failure of Senior Officers," 5 June 2018
While the Bond films have offered brief glimpses into the psychology over the years, most of which coming during Craig’s run, the character still feels like a bit of a cipher in terms of a personal life.

— richard newby, The Hollywood Reporter, "Is There Anything Left for Daniel Craig to Do as James Bond?," 16 Mar. 2018
At a slowed pace, space becomes a cipher for memory.

— cate mcquaid, BostonGlobe.com, "Suara Welitoff’s videos help us see things afresh," 30 May 2018
In a perfect world, David Sajewich, who plays the lead, would have more definition, but that is the perennial risk of this role, which can easily become a cipher, although that hardly is ideal — Bobby has to take charge of being Bobby.

— chris jones, chicagotribune.com, "Venus now has 'Company,' as Southport Corridor venue opens with Sondheim musical," 25 Apr. 2018
Janelle LaSalle as Jesus is cipher to her crowd of followers, always looking at them but seeing something else, as if a panorama of the universe clouds her eyeballs.

— lily janiak, San Francisco Chronicle, "‘Shesus’ lives — and rocks — in Ray of Light’s ‘Superstar’," 19 May 2018
Academic historians, by contrast, often portray Hitler as a cipher, a nobody.

— naomi fry, The New Yorker, "How American Racism Influenced Hitler," 23 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cipher.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of cipher

Middle English, from Medieval Latin cifra, from Arabic ṣifr empty, cipher, zero

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

cipher Synonyms

cipher

verb

Definition of cipher

ciphered; ciphering play \-f(ə-)riŋ\

intransitive verb

: to use figures in a mathematical process

all children should learn to read, write, and cipher
—M. Pattison

transitive verb

1 : encipher

ciphered the letters that passed between the two heads of state

2 : to compute arithmetically

ciphered out the sum in his head

Examples of cipher in a Sentence

were surprised by how much we had spent on the cruise after we had ciphered out the grand total

Recent Examples of cipher from the Web

These remnants, signals from an earlier phase of our human condition, have been endlessly ciphered by generations of archaeologists in the Bears Ears region (which is named for twin buttes near its center).

— stephen nash, New York Times, "At Bears Ears in Utah, Heated Politics and Precious Ruins," 25 July 2017