mysterious

adjective

mi-ˈstir-ē-əs How to pronounce mysterious (audio)
Definition of mysteriousnext
1
as in cryptic
being beyond one's powers to know, understand, or explain the huge stone statues on Easter Island are ancient, mysterious, and haunting

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ambiguous
having an often intentionally veiled or uncertain meaning the stranger's mysterious prediction

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of mysterious Keeping the doors open takes some decidedly less mysterious work, too. — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 5 Oct. 2026 At the meeting, Verity’s publishers and her real estate-exec husband, Jeremy (Josh Hartnett), hire Lowen to ghostwrite the next few Noble Virtues books that Verity can’t complete due to a mysterious accident. — Fawnia Soo Hoo, Allure, 5 Oct. 2026 The mysterious absence The Chiefs opened the game with a surprise. — Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 4 Oct. 2026 But of the leaders of those three mega-bands, perhaps the most mysterious remains Pete Townshend, The Who’s songwriter and enigmatic eminence, thrashing chords and smashing guitars while Roger Daltrey handled lead vocals. — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 3 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for mysterious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mysterious
  1. cryptic
  2. ambiguous
  3. enigmatic
  4. dark
  5. mystic
  6. obscure
  7. uncanny
  8. deep
Adjective
  • The cryptic eco-disaster project will represent a loss of hundreds of millions when all is said and done.
    — Matt Donnelly, Variety, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Emanuel’s cryptic comment comes amid claims that Meghan was in early talks to star in the third season of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series The Gentlemen.
    — Allison DeGrushe, StyleCaster, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of cryptic
Adjective
  • Here, the movie acquires an ambiguous power, and the proceedings begin to head south.
    — Lé Baltar, IndieWire, 8 Oct. 2026
  • To reveal more of Okita’s endlessly surprising and playfully ambiguous script would be to rob audiences of the film’s numerous pleasures, which run the gamut from hearty belly-laughs to heartbreaking melodrama.
    — James Marsh, Variety, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of ambiguous
Adjective
  • The story centers on a transfer student’s enigmatic bond with a teacher, as a string of unexplained, supernatural incidents cracks the school’s polished facade.
    — Ophélie Surcouf, Variety, 10 Oct. 2026
  • He is saved by an enigmatic young mechanic who equips him with a custom mechanical arm.
    — Liz Shackleton, Deadline, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of enigmatic
Adjective
  • There’s nothing about the white bedding, dark-wood furniture, and tan carpeting that will knock your socks off—but nothing that will make your toes curl, either.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Guadagnino and screenwriter Simon Rich mold the material from dark humor through technocratic giddiness to sobering horror.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of dark
Adjective
  • Two translations—of poems by the Indian mystic Mirabai and the contemporary Romanian poet Radu Vancu—seek to inhabit and transcend the history that holds up the present.
    — Craig Morgan Teicher, Literary Hub, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Rumi is also the name of a very famous 13th-century Persian poet and mystic.
    — Sarah Scott, Parents, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of mystic
Adjective
  • But there isn’t even a word for what happened Friday when a once-obscure board canceled a meeting to decide the future of homeless services in Los Angeles because too many people came to vote.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Ivey and his partner persuaded the Crockfords dealer to rotate the high-value cards 180 degrees before shuffling them back into the pack, citing some obscure superstition as justification.
    — Kit Chellel, Fortune, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of obscure
Adjective
  • Its obvious artificiality and absurdity fit neatly into an online meme culture that often revels in the uncanny.
    — Angela Yang, NBC news, 7 Oct. 2026
  • All of this is part of Flanagan’s general preference for giving characters the benefit of the doubt and for grounding the eerie and the uncanny in our lived experiences.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of uncanny
Adjective
  • Shamet shot three-of-four from deep for 13 points in 16 minutes, and Clarkson scored seven points in nine minutes.
    — Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 9 Oct. 2026
  • With c, the followup to last year’s UNMUSIQUE, Lucy is now two full-length projects deep for deadAir, sporting a new distribution deal with Atlantic and trying to translate their dreamscapes for bigger crowds.
    — H.D. Angel, Pitchfork, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of deep

Browse Nearby Words

mysteries
mysterious
mysteriousness
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Cite this Entry

“Mysterious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mysterious. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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