Definition of MYSTIFY

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

In a company long ruled by a rigid operational structure, Mr. Hackett’s cerebral, free-flowing management style has won some fans and mystified others. — Christina Rogers, WSJ, "Ford’s New CEO Has a Cerebral Style—and to Many, It’s Baffling," 14 Aug. 2018 But Russia's players defended, fought and grew their legend in front of a grateful home crowd, turning in the most unexpected result of a tournament that continues to mystify. — Brian Straus, SI.com, "Dogged Russia Continues World Cup Run, Brings Spain's Celebrated Era to an End," 1 July 2018 The idea that anyone would dive in and get their hands tattooed first mystifies him a bit. — Jacob Gallagher, WSJ, "Are Hand Tattoos No Longer Taboo? Depends On Your Job," 1 Oct. 2018 That is why Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s announcement Sunday that banks had plenty of liquidity mystified and worried market participants. — Greg Ip, WSJ, "Trump’s Volatility Only Adds to Stock-Market Selling Pressure," 26 Dec. 2018 On Wednesday, several justices appeared mystified by that Indiana opinion; and the state solicitor general, Thomas Fisher, spent little time defending it. — Jess Bravin, WSJ, "Supreme Court Poised to Rule Against Excessive State Fines," 28 Nov. 2018 All the remotes mystify even the people who set the systems up. — Alison Sider, WSJ, "Hey, Mom, Why Do You Have Five TV Remotes?," 26 Nov. 2018 Given the way the A’s Daniel Mengden mystified the White Sox bats Monday, that was enough. — John Hickey, chicagotribune.com, "Reynaldo Lopez strikes out 10 but gets no offensive support in White Sox's 8-1 loss to A's," 17 Apr. 2018 Cybersecurity experts and members of Congress said they were mystified by the move, though some suggested Mr. Bolton did not want any competitive power centers emerging inside the national security apparatus. — Nicole Perlroth, New York Times, "White House Eliminates Cybersecurity Coordinator Role," 15 May 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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