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The Mysterious Origins of Cryptic
The history of cryptic starts with krýptein, a Greek word meaning "to hide or conceal." Can you uncover other krýptein relatives in English? Not surprisingly, crypt, meaning "underground chamber," is one, as is the name of the element krypton. Krýptein also gave us several words having to do with secret codes, such as cryptogram ("a communication in cipher or code") and cryptography ("the coding and decoding of secret messages"). And cryptocurrency is currency that exists digitally and that relies on computer encryption (secret code) to prevent counterfeiting and fraud.
Examples of cryptic in a Sentence
Donna Seaman, Booklist, 15 Mar. 1994
Since Hughes's poems contained neither Eliot's footnotes nor Ezra Pound's cryptic orientalism, many critics and editors assumed the poet unintelligent and his work raw or, at best, slight.
—Rita Dove, New York Times Book Review, 9 Oct. 1988
The remark seemed cryptic to Philip, but when he heard her say it two or three times to different persons, and found that it aroused hearty agreement, he came to the conclusion that it was only obscure to his own intelligence.
—W. Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage, 1915
His instructions were cryptic. He said only to wait until we felt certain the answer was clear.
puzzled by the cryptic e-mail message left on his computer
Bethy Squires, Vulture, 30 Oct. 2025
Head coach Kyle Shanahan offered an update on the return of Purdy, but his update was far more cryptic than expected.
—MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025
Welch announced their album Everybody Scream back in August, following a few cryptic teasers.
—Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 24 Oct. 2025
This current injury sounds like something that is a result of something unfortunate away from the game, which is why everyone is being so cryptic.
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cryptic
Cite this Entry
“Cryptic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cryptic. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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cryptic
adjective
Medical Definition
cryptic
adjective
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