mysterious
English · Thesaurus
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mysterious
- /mɪˈstɪə̯.ɹi.əs/ UK
- /mɪˈstɪɹi.əs/ US
- /məˈstɪɹi.əs/ US
Rhymes with -ɪəɹiəs
Where it comes from
From Middle English *misterius (implied in misteriusly), probably partly from Middle French mystérieux and partly from Latin mystērium + -ous. By surface analysis, mystery + -ous.
adjective more mysterious · most mysterious
-
Of unknown origin.
He received a mysterious phone call this morning.
Similar: untraceable
- Having unknown qualities. Our boss is a mysterious man who hardly ever meets with us.
-
Difficult to understand.
Why he left without saying goodbye is quite mysterious.
Similar: abstruse, Chinese, dense, enigmatic, fathomless, bottomless, Greek, inapprehensible, incognizable, incomprehensible, ineffable, inenubilable
-
Deliberately evasive or enigmatic.
Stop being mysterious and just tell me what you want.
Similar: abstruse, behind the scenes, catlike, backroom, backstairs, stealth, clandestine, cloak-and-dagger, concealed, confidential, covert, deep-laid
Similar: arcane, cryptic, enigmatic, ill-defined, inenubilable, mysterial, mysterioso, mysterious, mystic, runish, sibylline, systerious, uncertain, undefined, undetermined · Opposite: known, unambiguous, unmysterious, well-defined
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: inscrutable, cryptical, cryptic, mystifying, incomprehensible, inexplicable, occult, secret, deep, esoteric, mystical, mystic, mystery, vagueness, vague, ambiguous
adjective
Similar: arcane, cryptic, enigmatic, ill-defined, inenubilable, mysterial, mysterioso, mysterious, mystic, runish, sibylline, systerious, uncertain, undefined, undetermined · Opposite: known, unambiguous, unmysterious, well-defined
Translations
Every language
adj of unknown origin
| Español | misterioso |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 신비(神秘)하다 sinbihada |
| 日本語 | 神秘的な shinpiteki na, ミステリアスな misuteriasu na, 不思議な fushigi na |
| 中文 | 神秘 shénmì, 來源不明的 /来源不明的 láiyuán bùmíng de |
| हिन्दी | रहस्यपूर्ण rahasyapūrṇ, गूढ gūḍh |
| Kiswahili | kidube |
| Português | misterioso |
| Français | mystérieux |
| Deutsch | mysteriös |
| Italiano | misterioso, ignoto |
| Ελληνικά | μυστήριος mystírios |
| Română | misterios |
| Русский | таи́нственный taínstvennyj, зага́дочный zagádočnyj |
| Tiếng Việt | thần bí |
| العربية | غَامِض ḡāmiḍ |
| עברית | מִסְתּוֹרִי |
adj having unknown qualities
| 中文 | 神秘 shénmì |
|---|---|
| Português | misterioso |
| Deutsch | rätselhaft |
| Русский | неизве́стный neizvéstnyj |
adj difficult to understand
| 中文 | 難以理解的 /难以理解的 nányǐ lǐjiě de, 費解的 /费解的 fèijiě de, 晦澀的 /晦涩的 huìsè de |
|---|---|
| Português | misterioso |
| Русский | непостижи́мый nepostižímyj, непоня́тный neponjátnyj |
adj deliberately evasive or enigmatic
| 中文 | 故弄玄虛的 /故弄玄虚的 gùnòngxuánxū de |
|---|---|
| Português | misterioso |
| Русский | зага́дочный zagádočnyj, таи́нственный taínstvennyj |
Talk about this word "mysterious." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/mysterious. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. mysterious. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/mysterious "mysterious." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/mysterious.Cite this
@misc{mysterious_2026,
title = {mysterious},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/mysterious},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
