How to Use mystify in a Sentence

mystify

verb
  • The cause of the disease mystified doctors for many years.
  • The magician has been mystifying his audiences for years with his amazing tricks.
  • The North Siders sound mystified; those from the city's South and West sides know all about it.
    — Bill Daley, chicagotribune.com, 23 June 2017
  • But at the time, Larry and his son were mystified and hurt.
    — Jonathan Abrams, New York Times, 19 June 2023
  • Moyes put his phone down, mystified at the news that his six-month reign was coming to an abrupt end.
    — Roshane Thomas, The Athletic, 14 Mar. 2025
  • The idea that anyone would dive in and get their hands tattooed first mystifies him a bit.
    — Jacob Gallagher, WSJ, 1 Oct. 2018
  • All the remotes mystify even the people who set the systems up.
    — Alison Sider, WSJ, 26 Nov. 2018
  • For a topic that's been front-page news for weeks, the debt ceiling sure seems to mystify a lot of people.
    — David Pogue, CBS News, 28 May 2023
  • We are mystified why the company put such a puny timber spike on the saw.
    — Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics, 31 July 2019
  • What stuff about the older players mystified the younger ones, and vice versa?
    — Sean Gregory, Time, 22 July 2023
  • But Gilbert sort of mystifies us because the town tries to project such a wholesome image.
    — John D'anna, azcentral, 22 Nov. 2019
  • Across the reach of centuries, Eisner was both impressed and mystified by the violence of the killing.
    — Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2024
  • Chira’s seizures this year have mystified zoo staff, and an MRI would give then a look inside her head, neck and brain.
    — Anne Saker, Cincinnati.com, 12 July 2019
  • Is Nothing Left to Lose, and the subject of which drummer plays on which songs continues to mystify fans of the band.
    — Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 1 Apr. 2022
  • The industry loved the Cardinals’ end, was amazed by what the Dodgers wound up with and, once again, was mystified by the White Sox approach.
    — Jayson Stark, The Athletic, 1 Aug. 2024
  • The fans seemed not so much angry at Leonard, as mystified that a Spur is not here, with his team, giving them his love and support.
    — Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, 21 Apr. 2018
  • Back in the 1500s, Johannes Kepler himself was mystified by the lack of a planet between Mars and Jupiter.
    — Brian Resnick, Vox, 30 Apr. 2018
  • The desire to keep these people away from our country mystifies me.
    — Author: Charles Wohlforth, Alaska Dispatch News, 1 July 2017
  • Patton, 28, is mystified by why Hale reached out to her before the massacre.
    — Joanna Slater, Anchorage Daily News, 29 Mar. 2023
  • Patton, 28, is mystified by why Hale reached out to her before the massacre.
    — Joanna Slater, Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2023
  • Patton, 28, is mystified by why Hale reached out to her before the massacre.
    — Joanna Slater, BostonGlobe.com, 29 Mar. 2023
  • Right, and talking with Iowa Democrats, the thing that the people who are not part of the Biden camp say mystifies them about this campaign is this is a guy who's run now three times.
    — NBC News, 6 Oct. 2019
  • Some involved in the Russia case said they were mystified by his statement.
    — Anchorage Daily News, 9 Dec. 2019
  • His family and friends said they were mystified by his death.
    — Jane Wester, Adam Bell and Mark Price lavendrick Smith, charlotteobserver, 20 Oct. 2017
  • There are things that mystify and things that, sadly, shouldn’t be all that surprising.
    — Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 26 Dec. 2020
  • As Babbage, Brian Griffin is as mystified by Ada as he is drawn to her.
    — David Lyman, Cincinnati.com, 14 Apr. 2018
  • Barkley has been a mystifying chess piece for the Eagles, winners of seven straight.
    — Sam Cohn, Baltimore Sun, 27 Nov. 2024
  • Her search turned up a Vancouver art project, but she was still mystified as customers asked about them.
    — Ed Fletcher, sacbee, 31 Jan. 2018
  • Take, for example, Phil Maton, a reliever made for the modern game but mystifying to Brown.
    — Chandler Rome, The Athletic, 25 Mar. 2025
  • His work delighted, mystified, and horrified viewers, and rarely offered easy answers.
    — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 16 Jan. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mystify.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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