Definition of MYSTIFY

Other Words from mystify

mystifier \ ˈmi-stə-ˌfī(-ə)r

\ noun

mystifyingly \ ˈmi-stə-ˌfī-iŋ-lē

\ adverb

Examples of mystify in a Sentence

The cause of the disease mystified doctors for many years. The magician has been mystifying his audiences for years with his amazing tricks.

Recent Examples on the Web

Self-defense could explain its Norwegian stake-building, which has mystified some analysts. — Stephen Wilmot, WSJ, "Fly Norwegian, but Don’t Buy Norwegian," 3 Aug. 2018 In just the past three years, mystified pilots flying Boeing NG or 777 jets have reported more than a dozen instances of important flight information disappearing. — Anita Sharpe, Los Angeles Times, "Are cellphones a flight danger? They are on these Boeing jets, FAA says," 18 July 2019 Outsiders to Rightworld, and even some insiders, were mystified by the explosion of conservative commentary occasioned by New York Post op-ed editor Sohrab Ahmari’s attack on our colleague David French. — Ramesh Ponnuru, National Review, "The Right Liberalism," 11 July 2019 But she was mystified as to who the person could be. — Janene Holzberg, baltimoresun.com, "Thanks to a friend's 'selfless act,' an Ellicott City woman has hope," 28 June 2019 The company’s terse tweeted responses to impassioned pleas from its creators have left everyone mystified about what, if anything, the company stands for, aside from minimizing bad press. — Casey Newton, The Verge, "Three ways YouTube could fight harassment," 6 June 2019 High mortality among young dolphins also continues to mystify scientists. — Stefan Lovgren, National Geographic, "Cambodia’s endangered river dolphins at highest population in 20 years," 5 Apr. 2019 In the years before the Second World War, Americans were mystified as to how Germany, one of the most sophisticated nations in Europe, had tumbled down the dark hole of National Socialism. — Fred Turner, Harper's magazine, "Machine Politics," 10 Jan. 2019 LaMassa, an astronomer now at the Space Telescope Science Institute, was mystified. — Quanta Magazine, "Galactic Beacons Get Snuffed Out in a Cosmic Eyeblink," 21 Nov. 2018

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

History and Etymology for mystify

borrowed from French mystifier "to hoodwink, dupe," from Greek mýstēs "person initiated (into a religious cult)" + French -ifier -ify — more at mystic entry 1

Note: French mystifier was used by 18th-century literati in the context of elaborate practical jokes in which some pseudo-magical procedure would be performed on the subject of the joke as a sort of mock initiation. Such a joke is described by the playwright Charles-Simon Favart (1710-92) in a letter of June 24, 1760, apparently the earliest known occurrence of the verb: one Poinsinet is persuaded that the application of a magic ointment has made him invisible and he then becomes the butt of various jests. According to Favart, Poinsinet was dubbed le mystifié (presumably, "one made an inititate") as a result of the jests, which he refers to collectively as la mystification. (See Mémoires et correspondances littéraires, dramatiques et anecdotiques de C.S. Favart, tome 1, Paris, 1808, p. 50-52.) The meaning of the English word has been influenced by mystery entry 1, mystical, etc.

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