mysterious
adjective
mys·te·ri·ous
mi-ˈstir-ē-əs 
1
a
: of, relating to, or constituting mystery
the mysterious ways of God
b
: exciting wonder, curiosity, or surprise while baffling efforts to comprehend or identify : mystifying
heard a mysterious noise
a mysterious stranger
a mysterious plane crash
a mysterious illness
2
: stirred by or attracted to the inexplicable
… to help a mysterious wizard … ward off the end of the world …—
Robert Houston
Robert Houston
mysteriousness
noun
Synonyms of mysterious
Examples of mysterious in a Sentence
the mysterious ways of nature
We heard a mysterious noise outside our tent.
He died under mysterious circumstances.
A mysterious illness has been spreading through the city.
There's something mysterious about that old woman.
Her behavior was very mysterious.
Recent Examples on the Web
While a character named Tuberculosis Karen seems like a surefire success, this season, which was split into two stories — one about the mysterious off-season residents of Provincetown and the other about an alien conspiracy in the 1950s — proved unremarkable.
—Tom Smyth, Vulture, 9 Dec. 2025
Every household has that mysterious bag of dead batteries that never seems to get disposed of.
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However, the influence of Uranus in Taurus interrupts the secrecy and mysterious undercurrents to deliver a brutally honest and surprising message.
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While the orderly arrangement of solids and the chaotic freedom of gases are relatively well-described, liquids have always remained the most mysterious of the trio.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 9 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mysterious
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Tom Smyth, Vulture, 9 Dec. 2025
Every household has that mysterious bag of dead batteries that never seems to get disposed of.
—Paige Moore, AZCentral.com, 9 Dec. 2025
However, the influence of Uranus in Taurus interrupts the secrecy and mysterious undercurrents to deliver a brutally honest and surprising message.
—Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 9 Dec. 2025
While the orderly arrangement of solids and the chaotic freedom of gases are relatively well-described, liquids have always remained the most mysterious of the trio.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 9 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mysterious
Cite this Entry
“Mysterious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mysterious. Accessed 14 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
mysterious
adjective
mys·te·ri·ous
mis-ˈtir-ē-əs
: containing, suggesting, or presenting a mystery
mysterious noises
also
: difficult or impossible to understand
the mysterious ways of nature
mysteriously
adverb
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