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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ambiguous
having an often intentionally veiled or uncertain meaning
the stranger's mysterious prediction
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in ambiguity
the quality or state of being impossible to know, understand, or explain
the mysteriousness of the nocturnal noises evaporated with the arrival of daybreak
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ambiguousness
the quality or state of having a veiled or uncertain meaning
the unexpected mysteriousness of the phone message had them a little concerned
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of mysterious
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 18 Apr. 2025
But the site’s most famous find is a mysterious green gadget: the Antikythera mechanism.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Apr. 2025
Then a mysterious luchador named El Grande Americano, who looked like and wrestled like Gable (except under a mask), made his debut and began defeating the WWE’s luchadors through nefarious means.
—Joe Nguyen, Denver Post, 18 Apr. 2025
Apart is on its way — and has quite the mysterious cover to match.
—Kimberlee Speakman, People.com, 13 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mysterious
Adjective
But the true paranoia is saved for the mysterious, primate-like species called ochi, beasts that once again evade a nighttime hunt led by Yuri’s father, ludicrously armor-accessorized like a cosplay centurion, leading a posse of rifle-wielding boys from the area.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 18 Apr. 2025
But the site’s most famous find is a mysterious green gadget: the Antikythera mechanism.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Apr. 2025
Then a mysterious luchador named El Grande Americano, who looked like and wrestled like Gable (except under a mask), made his debut and began defeating the WWE’s luchadors through nefarious means.
—Joe Nguyen, Denver Post, 18 Apr. 2025
Apart is on its way — and has quite the mysterious cover to match.
—Kimberlee Speakman, People.com, 13 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mysterious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mysterious
Adjective
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When an old acquaintance is murdered, leaving behind a cryptic message to ‘find the accountant,’ Wolff is compelled to solve the case.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes.com,
25 Apr. 2025
-
Despite the cryptic message, many fans figured out where to find the singer and showed up in droves, forcing Lorde to initially cancel her appearance.—
Maya Georgi,
Rolling Stone,
24 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
But the scene itself could be read as a little ambiguous, too: is Sammie trying to pierce the veil again, playing a song that could both foster community but also bring back the vampires?—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
18 Apr. 2025
-
As the days turned into weeks, the reality of her situation remained ambiguous.—
Ashley Vega,
People.com,
17 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
This strategic refocus replaces surface-level interaction with meaningful inquiry and a leadership model that treats complexity and ambiguity as assets, not obstacles.—
Mary Hemphill, PhD,
Forbes.com,
1 May 2025
-
That ambiguity continues some weeks later in the library, where Gene has arranged for Henry to be assigned as a worker.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Julianne Moore toes the line between enigmatic socialite and cult leader in the new trailer for Sirens, a new limited series premiering May 22 on Netflix.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
25 Apr. 2025
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The city—ever elegant, ever enigmatic—set the stage for one of the magazine’s most iconic stories: The Last Waltz, Mario Testino’s sweeping September 2006 editorial starring Natalia Vodianova as a modern-day empress gliding through Schönbrunn and beyond.—
Lilah Ramzi,
Vogue,
24 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Shows this dark need moments of beauty, and this episode provided those in spades.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
28 Apr. 2025
-
While the show’s tone is more bright and upbeat than its original sources, the scope of the musical has also been widened to reveal dark complexities in the world of the undocumented.—
Frank Rizzo,
Variety,
28 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The observatory, which is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, is designed to scrutinize the solar atmosphere and the sun's magnetic field for tiny features that might reveal answers to some of the fundamental solar mysteries.—
Sharmila Kuthunur,
Space.com,
24 Apr. 2025
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Mother and daughter were linked through DNA analysis in 2015, but their identities remained a mystery.—
Christine Pelisek,
People.com,
23 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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According to Nutritionists By Brianna Peters In an era when nearly everything feels politicized and uncertain, these mystic tools offer something precious: a means of reconnecting with ourselves.—
Michaela Trimble,
Vogue,
21 Apr. 2025
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In the West, she’s been sanctified, but also portrayed as a sinner, a nun, a mystic, and Jesus’ wife.—
Eliza Griswold,
New Yorker,
19 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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These renderings obscure just how much conventional warfare took place in Vietnam.—
Made by History,
Time,
30 Apr. 2025
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Parsing a FromSoftware game's obscure plot is as tricky as taking down its brutal enemies.—
Jordan Minor,
PC Magazine,
29 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mysterious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mysterious. Accessed 5 May. 2025.
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