mysterious

adjective

mi-ˈstir-ē-əs How to pronounce mysterious (audio)
Definition of mysteriousnext
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

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ambiguous
having an often intentionally veiled or uncertain meaning the stranger's mysterious prediction

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of mysterious Nicolas Winding Refn’s audacious return to feature filmmaking is a gorgeous, mysterious act of cinema, sensorial and transgressive, that demands to be experienced on its own terms. — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 2 July 2026 But police say the ranger approaching the car would ultimately lead to a sprawling investigation involving drugs, guns, mysterious chemicals, a missing woman and local and federal investigators turning a Philadelphia home inside out. — Danny Freeman, CNN Money, 1 July 2026 What the 1998 demolition unexpectedly uncovered roiled Miami and provoked a worldwide outcry — a mysterious set of 24 holes carved into the limestone bedrock in a perfect circle, 38 feet in diameter. — Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 30 June 2026 Beulah's spurned heir Joaquin (Juan Pablo Raba) calls up the mysterious Mariana (Raoul Max Trujillo) to help with his many problems, which include his ranch-usurping half-brother Rob-Will and those Duttons from Montana. — Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 3 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for mysterious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mysterious
  1. cryptic
  2. ambiguous
  3. enigmatic
  4. dark
  5. mystic
  6. obscure
  7. uncanny
  8. deep
Adjective
  • It was filled with brackets and parentheticals, written in different fonts and colors, much of it in capital letters, at once detailed and cryptic.
    — Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica, 30 June 2026
  • His doctors speculated his infection might have been a rare case of cryptic transmission from sharing meals and bathrooms with his coworkers, one of whom apparently had a tapeworm infection.
    — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 26 June 2026
Definition of cryptic
Adjective
  • Vermeule—a former clerk for Scalia—proposes that conservatives should read the Constitution’s ambiguous phrases and general structure in an openly moral way, drawing on principles grounded in the nature and purposes of government.
    — Jeannie Suk Gersen, New Yorker, 2 July 2026
  • Without a unified, clean, and accessible data structure, AI outputs quickly become ambiguous, hallucinated, and diluted, deepening the clarity crisis rather than resolving it.
    — Ali Hoss, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
Definition of ambiguous
Adjective
  • The admittedly shy Belgian-Italian fashion designer Anthony Vaccarello entered the house of Saint Laurent as an enigmatic underdog.
    — José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 6 July 2026
  • Many aspects of the physics underlying GRBs remain enigmatic—but Rubin’s potential for discovering entirely new types of transients could soon offer astronomers a wealth of additional cosmic mysteries to solve.
    — Clara Moskowitz, Scientific American, 1 July 2026
Definition of enigmatic
Adjective
  • As its name suggests, the product is formulated with skin care superstar retinol to smooth fine lines and crow’s feet and brighten dark circles.
    — Kyra Surgent, InStyle, 7 July 2026
  • El Floridita and Sloppy Joe’s, tourist destinations made famous by American novelist Ernest Hemingway, sat dark and shuttered.
    — Romina Ruiz-Goiriena, USA Today, 6 July 2026
Definition of dark
Adjective
  • His guru, Ramakrishna, was a 19th-century mystic and spiritual teacher in Bengal whose teachings on the unity underlying all religions shaped the worldview Vivekananda would go on to spread globally.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 4 July 2026
  • In Mozart’s opera, Tamino, a prince in a fairyland of mystic temples and mystifying gods, relies on his supernatural flute that turn sorrow into joy to get him out of jams.
    — Classical Music Critic, Los Angeles Times, 5 June 2026
Definition of mystic
Adjective
  • Intentionally vague and obscure, the Daodejing would go on to inspire various interpretations ranging from philosophical reflections to how to realize the Dao in everyday practice.
    — Michael Naparstek, The Conversation, 6 July 2026
  • The end of legal slavery in New York should not be an obscure historical fact.
    — Tunisia Morrison, New York Daily News, 5 July 2026
Definition of obscure
Adjective
  • The 6-foot-11 Condon rebounds relentlessly, protects the rim, delivers uncanny passes and makes winning plays, none bigger than his hustle to secure Florida’s comeback victory against Houston in the 2025 national championship game.
    — Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 26 June 2026
  • Like Buster Keaton before him, Knoxville has an uncanny awareness of how his death-defying escapades appear on camera.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2026
Definition of uncanny
Adjective
  • The arils are deep ruby-red in color and have a sweet yet slightly tart flavor that many people find refreshing.
    — Daryl Austin, USA Today, 2 July 2026
  • Facing intense competition, Accor recognized the need for deeper customer retention and advocacy.
    — Jeff Fromm, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of deep

Browse Nearby Words

mysteries
mysterious
mysteriousness
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Mysterious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mysterious. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on mysterious

Nglish: Translation of mysterious for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All