mysterious

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mys·te·ri·ous

(mĭ-stîr′ē-əs)

adj.

1. Of, relating to, or being a religious mystery: mysterious and infinite truths.

2. Arousing wonder or curiosity, especially by being difficult to explain or understand: the mysterious disappearance of the relevant files.

[French mystérieux, from mystère, secret, from Latin mystērium; see mystery¹.]

mys·te′ri·ous·ly adv.

mys·te′ri·ous·ness n.

Synonyms: mysterious, esoteric, arcane, occult, cryptic, enigmatic
These adjectives mean beyond human power to explain or understand. Something mysterious arouses wonder and inquisitiveness: "The sea lies all about us.... In its mysterious past it encompasses all the dim origins of life" (Rachel Carson).
What is esoteric is mysterious because only a select group knows and understands it: a compilation of esoteric philosophical essays. Arcane applies to what is hidden from general knowledge: arcane economic theories. Occult suggests knowledge reputedly gained only by secret, magical, or supernatural means: an occult rite. Cryptic suggests a sometimes deliberately puzzling terseness: His roommate left cryptic messages alluding to his whereabouts. Something enigmatic is mysterious and puzzling: The biography struggles to make sense of the artist's enigmatic life.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

mysterious

(mɪˈstɪərɪəs)

adj

1. characterized by or indicative of mystery

2. puzzling, curious, or enigmatic

mysˈteriously adv

mysˈteriousness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

mys•te•ri•ous

(mɪˈstɪər i əs)

adj.

1. involving or full of mystery: a mysterious phone call.

2. suggesting or implying a mystery: a mysterious smile.

3. puzzling; inexplicable: a mysterious inscription on an ancient tomb.

mys•te′ri•ous•ly, adv.

mys•te′ri•ous•ness, n.

syn: mysterious, inscrutable, mystical, obscure refer to that which is not easily comprehended or explained. That which is mysterious, by being unknown or puzzling, excites curiosity or awe: a mysterious disease. inscrutable applies to that which is impenetrable, so enigmatic that one cannot interpret it: an inscrutable smile. That which is mystical has a secret significance, such as that attaching to certain rites or signs: mystical symbols. That which is obscure is discovered or comprehended dimly or with difficulty: obscure motives.

mysterious

arcane - Meaning "hidden, secret; mysterious, abstruse," it is from Latin arcere, "shut up," from arca, "chest."
god moves in a mysterious way, the worse for wear, variety is the spice of life - "God moves in a mysterious way" originated with poet William Cowper—as did the phrases "the worse for wear" and "variety is the spice of life."
handwriting on the wall, writing on the wall - Handwriting on the wall (or writing on the wall) comes from the Bible (Daniel 5:5-31), in which the prophet interprets some mysterious writing that a disembodied hand has inscribed on the palace wall, telling King Belshazzar that he will be overthrown.
fluence - To put the fluence on is to use one's mysterious, magical, or hypnotic power.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.	1.	mysterious - of an obscure nature; "the new insurance policy is written without cryptic or mysterious terms"; "a deep dark secret"; "the inscrutable workings of Providence"; "in its mysterious past it encompasses all the dim origins of life"- Rachel Carson; "rituals totally mystifying to visitors from other lands" cryptic, cryptical, inscrutable, mystifying, deep incomprehensible, inexplicable - incapable of being explained or accounted for; "inexplicable errors"; "left the house at three in the morning for inexplicable reasons"
	2.	mysterious - having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding; "mysterious symbols"; "the mystical style of Blake"; "occult lore"; "the secret learning of the ancients" mystic, occult, orphic, mystical, secret esoteric - confined to and understandable by only an enlightened inner circle; "a compilation of esoteric philosophical theories"

mysterious

adjective

1. strange, unknown, puzzling, curious, secret, hidden, weird, concealed, obscure, baffling, veiled, mystical, perplexing, uncanny, incomprehensible, mystifying, impenetrable, arcane, inexplicable, cryptic, insoluble, unfathomable, abstruse, recondite, Delphic He died in mysterious circustances.
strange clear, plain, apparent, manifest

2. secretive, enigmatic, evasive, discreet, covert, reticent, furtive, inscrutable, non-committal, surreptitious, cloak-and-dagger, sphinx-like As for his job - well, he was very mysterious about it.

Quotations
"God moves in a mysterious way"
"His wonders to perform;"
"He plants his footsteps in the sea,"
"And rides upon the storm" [William Cowper Olney Hymns]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

mysterious

adjective

Difficult to explain or understand:

arcane, cabalistic, cryptic, enigmatic, mystic, mystical, mystifying, occult, puzzling.

Translations

misterieus

سِرّي، غامِضغامضغَامِضٌ

таинствен

záhadnýtajemný

mystiskgådefuld

geheimnisvoll mysteriös

μυστηριώδης μυστήριος

mistera

misterioso

salapärane

ﻡﻬﺒﻤ

salaperäinenmystinen

mystérieux

מִסְתּוֹרִי

guptartharashasyapurna

tajanstvenzagonetan

rejtelmesrejtélyestitokzatos

misterius

dularfullur

misterioso arcano fantomatico

謎めいた

신비한

arcanus

paslaptingas

mīklains

geheimzinnig mysterieus

mystisk

tajemniczy

misterioso misteriosa

misterios

таинственный

tajomná

skrivnosten

тајанствен

mystisk

kidube

ที่ลึกลับลี้ลับ

gizemli esrarengizesrarlı

таємничий

huyền bíthần bí

神秘的

mysterious

[mɪsˈtɪərɪəs] ADJ

1. (= puzzling) [disappearance, illness, circumstances] → misterioso
there is nothing mysterious about it → no tiene nada de misterioso, no tiene ningún misterio
the Lord moves in mysterious ways → los designios del Señor son inescrutables

2. (= enigmatic) [person, object] → misterioso; [smile] → misterioso, lleno de misterio
why are you being so mysterious? → ¿por qué andas con tanto misterio?, ¿a qué viene tanto misterio?

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

mysterious

[mɪˈstɪəriəs] adj

[event, circumstances] → mystérieux/euse

to be mysterious about sth [person] → rester mystérieux/euse au sujet de qch

mysterious

adj (= puzzling) → rätselhaft, mysteriös; (= secretive) → geheimnisvoll; atmosphere, stranger → geheimnisvoll; she is being quite mysterious about it/him → sie macht ein großes Geheimnis daraus/um ihn; why are you being so mysterious? → warum tust du so geheimnisvoll?; for some mysterious reason → aus unerfindlichen Gründen; the Lord moves in mysterious ways → die Wege des Herrn sind unergründlich

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

mysterious

[mɪsˈtɪərɪəs] adj → misterioso/a

mystery

(ˈmistəri) – plural ˈmysteries – noun

1. something that cannot be, or has not been, explained. the mystery of how the universe was formed; the mystery of his disappearance; How she passed her exam is a mystery to me.

2. the quality of being impossible to explain, understand etc. Her death was surrounded by mystery.

myˈsterious (-ˈstiəriəs) adjective

difficult to understand or explain, or full of mystery. mysterious happenings; He's being very mysterious (= refuses to explain fully) about what his work is

myˈsteriously adverb

mysterious

→ غَامِضٌ záhadný mystisk geheimnisvoll μυστηριώδης misterioso salaperäinen mystérieux tajanstven misterioso 謎めいた 신비한 mysterieus mystisk tajemniczy misterioso таинственный mystisk ที่ลึกลับ gizemli huyền bí 神秘的

References in classic literature ?

All the members of that family, especially the feminine half, were pictured by him, as it were, wrapped about with a mysterious poetical veil, and he not only perceived no defects whatever in them, but under the poetical veil that shrouded them he assumed the existence of the loftiest sentiments and every possible perfection.

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As for the doctor himself he was unapproachable on the subject of the mysterious upper regions.

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CLEARS UP MY MYSTERIOUS BEHAVIOUR OF THE LAST Chapter

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It was for the Mediterranean sailors that fair-haired sirens sang among the black rocks seething in white foam and mysterious voices spoke in the darkness above the moving wave - voices menacing, seductive, or prophetic, like that voice heard at the beginning of the Christian era by the master of an African vessel in the Gulf of Syrta, whose calm nights are full of strange murmurs and flitting shadows.

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It was hours later, in the very middle of the night, that one of God's mysterious messengers, gliding ahead of the incalculable host of his companions sweeping westward with the dawn line, pronounced the awakening word in the ear of the sleeper, who sat upright and spoke, he knew not why, a name, he knew not whose.

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In connection with this subject of "mysterious disappearance"--of which every memory is stored with abundant example--it is pertinent to note the belief of Dr.

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But they were obliged to wait more than a week because first there came some very windy days and then Colin was threatened with a cold, which two things happening one after the other would no doubt have thrown him into a rage but that there was so much careful and mysterious planning to do and almost every day Dickon came in, if only for a few minutes, to talk about what was happening on the moor and in the lanes and hedges and on the borders of streams.

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The year 1866 was signalised by a remarkable incident, a mysterious and puzzling phenomenon, which doubtless no one has yet forgotten.

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Precautions in dangerous defiles Trappers' mode of defence on a prairie A mysterious visitor Arrival in Green River Valley Adventures of the detachments The forlorn partisan His tale of disasters.

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Beside them was the dark well-hole, with that horrid effluvium stealing up from its mysterious depths.

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This itinerary possessed another great advantage, -- that of leaving Franz at full liberty to indulge his deep reverie upon the subject of Signor Pastrini's story, in which his mysterious host of Monte Cristo was so strangely mixed up.

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The colourless clearness that comes after the sunset flush was darkling; the blue sky above grew momentarily deeper, and the little stars one by one pierced the attenuated light; the interspaces of the trees, the gaps in the further vegetation, that had been hazy blue in the daylight, grew black and mysterious. I pushed on.