Cryptic

Definition: Cryptic

Cryptic

Adjective

1. Of an obscure nature; "the new insurance policy is written without cryptic or mysterious terms"; "a deep dark secret"; "the inscrutible 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".

2. Having a secret or hidden meaning; "cabalistic symbols engraved in stone"; "cryptic writings"; "thoroughly sibylline in most of his pronouncements"- John Gunther.

3. Having a puzzling terseness; "a cryptic note".

Date "cryptic" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1844. (references)

Synonyms: Cryptic

Synonyms: cabalistic (adj), cryptical (adj), deep (adj), inscrutable (adj), mysterious (adj), mystifying (adj), sibylline (adj). (additional references)

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Concealment	Adjective: concealed; Verb: hidden; secret, recondite, mystic, cabalistic, occult, dark; cryptic, cryptical; private, privy, in petto, auricular, clandestine, close, inviolate; tortuous.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Crosswords: Cryptic

English words defined with "cryptic": cryptical, cryptically ♦ deciphered, deep ♦ enigma canon, enigmatic canon, enigmatical canon, enigmatically ♦ inscrutable ♦ Michel de Notredame, mysterious, mysteriously, mystifying ♦ Nostradamus ♦ riddle canon. (references)

Specialty definitions using "cryptic": Kvikkalkul ♦ Real Programmers Don't Use Pascal ♦ SED. (references)

Domain	Usage
Screenplays	Look, if you're gonna be popping up with this cryptic wise man act on a regular basis can you at least tell me your name? (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; writing credit: Doreen Spicer)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Domain	Title
Books	101 Cryptic Crosswords (reference) Games Magazine's World of Cryptic Crosswords (reference) Henry Hook's Cryptic Crosswords (reference) Random House Cryptic Crosswords (reference) Random House Guide to Cryptic Crosswords: How to Solve America's Trickiest Puzzles, Plus 65 of Cox and Ravthvon's Devilish Puzzles Never Before in B (reference) (more book examples)

Periodicals	Cryptic W Mexico - Cd-rom (reference) (more periodical examples)

Music	Cryptic Void (reference) Cryptic Writings (reference) (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Play	Caption
	Morse code; beep; codify; cryptic; attack signal; military.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Subject	Topic	Quote
Health		Mintz ED, Effler PV, Maslankowski LA, et al. A rapid public health response to a cryptic outbreak of cholera in Hawaii. (references)
Human Rights	Guatemala	In May 2000, Edgar Gutierrez, head of the President's Secretariat for Strategic Analysis, announced the existence of a computer database containing names, personal information, and cryptic codes about more than 650,000 persons. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

"Cryptic" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 99.40% of the time. "Cryptic" is used about 166 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Adjective (general or positive)	99.4%	165	24,305
Noun (singular)	0.6%	1	339,140
Total	100.00%	166	N/A

Expression using "cryptic": cryptic coloration. Additional references.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Language		Translations for "cryptic"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		lakonik (laconic, terse), i mistershëm (hidden, magic, magical, mysterious, mystic, occult, puzzling, uncanny, weird), i fshehtë (backdoor, clandestine, close, colorable, colourable, confidential, dark, deep, deep-seated, elfish, elvish, esoteric, furtive, hidden, hole-and-corner, insidious, internal, latent, occult, Perdue, private, privy, quiet, secret, secretive, sly, stealthy, subterranean, under the counter, under the table, under wraps, undercover, underhand, underhanded, unearthly, veiled). (various references)

Arabic		‏ملغز (enigmatic, inscrutable), ‏مبهم (abstruse, ambiguous, dark, dim, enigmatic, equivocal, hazy, impenetrable, incomprehensible, inscrutable, misty, mysterious, mystic, obscure, recondite, unclear, unfathomable, unintelligible, vague), ‏سري (clandestine, classified, close, closet, confidential, covert, discreet, furtive, hugger mugger, hush hush, inmost, low key, mysterious, mystic, occult, off the record, private, privy, sacramental, secret, slinking, stealthy, subterranean, surreptitious, umbilical, undercover, underground, underhand), ‏خفي (covert, disguised, hidden, invisible, mysterious, occult, secret, stealthy, surreptitious, ulterior, unseen, veiled). (various references)

Bulgarian		таен (arcane, backdoor, clandestine, confidential, dark, darkling, esoteric, hole-and-corner, hugger mugger, hush hush, inside, mystic, occult, private, privy, recondite, secret, sensitive, sneaking, snug, surreptitious, undercover, underground, underhand), загадъчен (apocalyptic, baffling, delphian, delphic, enigmatic, inscrutable, mysterious, mystic, oracular), прикриващ. (various references)

Chinese		隐秘. (various references)

Czech		záhadný (baffling, enigmatic, inexplicable, mysterious, occult, unknown), tajemný (dark, enigmatic, mysterious, secret, uncanny). (various references)

Danish		krypt-tonsillit (cryptic tonsillitis), krypt-parenkyn-paratonsillit (cryptic-parenchymatous paratonsillitis), krypt-parenkym-tonsillit (cryptic-parechymatous tonsillitis), kryptisk polymorfi (cryptic polymorphism), angina follicularis (cryptic tonsillitis, follicular tonsillitis, lacunar tonsillitis). (various references)

Dutch		cryptisch polymorfisme (cryptic polymorphism), angina pultacea (cryptic tonsillitis, follicular tonsillitis, lacunar tonsillitis), angina lacunaris (cryptic tonsillitis, follicular tonsillitis, lacunar tonsillitis), angina follicularis (cryptic tonsillitis, follicular tonsillitis, lacunar tonsillitis). (various references)

Farsi		پنهان (Abstruse, Latent, Surreptitious), مرموز (Exotic, Inscrutable, Mysterious, Recondite, Shady, Unaccountable, Unco, Weird), رمزی (Allegorical, Esoteric, Figurative, Occult, Runic, Symbolic, Undercover). (various references)

Finnish		piilopolymorfismi (cryptic polymorphism), kryptinen polymorfismi (cryptic polymorphism), kätkeytynyt polymorfismi (cryptic polymorphism). (various references)

French		sibyllin, secret. (various references)

German		verschlüsselt (coded, enciphers, encoded, encodes, keyed, scrambled), schleierhaft (cryptically, incomprehensible, mysterious), rätselhaft (baffling, cryptically, enicmatical, enigmatic, enigmatically, enigmaticly, mysterious, puzzling), hintergründig (cryptically, enigmatic, profound), geheimnisvoll (arcane, furtive, mysterious, mysteriously, mystic, mystical, mysticly, occult, secretive, secretively). (various references)

Greek		αινιγματικόσ (enigmatic, oracular, puzzling), απόκρυφοσ (esoteric, recondite). (various references)

Hebrew		� סתר (concealed, hidden, latent, latescent, occult, recondite). (various references)

Hungarian		rejtélyes (baffling, enigmatic, enigmatical, inscrutable, mysterious, puzzling, recondite, secret, uncanny). (various references)

Indonesian		tidak jelas (inarticulate, vague), samar-samar (blur, blurry, vague, vaguely). (various references)

Italian		nascosto (blind, cached, covert, hidden, occult, sneaking, stealthy, ulterior, underhand, unseen), misterioso (abstruse, eerie, enigmatic, mysterious, occult, secret, suspect, suspicious, unearthly, weird). (various references)

Korean		비밀 (secret). (various references)

Manx		follit (blind, blind of turning, bottled up, clandestine, classified, concealed, covert, etc., etc.), hidden, hush-hush, latent, private, private and confidential, secret, secreted, underground, veiled). (various references)

Pig Latin		ypticcray

Portuguese		secreto (arcane, backdoor, blind, classified, close, confidential, deep, hole-and-corner, inmost, inner, occult, offscreen, private, privy, sealed, secret, secretive, sneaking, stealthy, surreptitious, undercover, underhanded, under-the-table), oculto (deep, disingenuous, inner, latent, mystical, occult, offscreen, perdu, privy, recondite, secret, sneaking, ulterior, underlying, unseen). (various references)

Romanian		ascuns (abstruse, backstairs, blind, cagey, close, concealed, covert, dark, furtive, hidden, masked, mystic, occult, postern, privy, q.t., quiet, recondite, secluded, secret, secretive, self contained, sneaking, stealthy, sunken, ulterior, uncommunicative, underground, underhand, undiscovered). (various references)

Russian		скрытый (arcane, clandestine, concealed, covert, delitescent, dormant, esoteric, hidden, in disguise, inside, larval, latent, masked, obscure, occult, offstage, quiet, secret, stealthy, supressed, ulterior), тайный (arcane, backdoor, clandestine, dark, esoteric, furtive, hole-and-corner, hugger mugger, offscreen, private, privy, quiet, secret, sly, sneaking, stealthy, surreptitious, under the table, undercover, underground, underhand, underhanded), таинственный (bellicose, eerie, mysterious, mystic, numinous, occult, Orphic, unsearchable). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		grobni (grave, sepulchral). (various references)

Spanish		críptico, ocultado (cow-hide, dissembled). (various references)

Swedish		kryptisk. (various references)

Turkish		gizli (arcane, back door, blind, camera, clandestine, classified, closet, concealed, confidential, covert, cryptical, crypto-, disguised, esoteric, furtive, hidden, hole-and-corner, hugger mugger, huggermugger, hush hush, inner, intimate, latent, masked, occult, perdu, Perdue, private, privy, quiet, restricted, sealed, secluded, secret, secretly, slinky, sneaking, sneakingly, sneaky, snug, stealthy, sub rosa, submerged, submersed, subterranean, subterraneous, surreptitious, ulterior, under cover, underarm, undercover, underground, underhand, underhanded, undisclosed, unsearchable, unseen), esrarlı (arcane, cryptical, deep, inscrutable, mysterious, mystical, numinous, occult, secret, unaccountable), şifreli (ciphered, cryptical, in cipher). (various references)

Ukrainian		та�"мничий (cabbalistic, eldritch, esoteric, mysterious, mystical, occult, orphean, orphic, secretive, unearthly, weird), та�"мний (arcane, back door, backstairs, clandestine, close, closet, colorable, colourable, covert, esoteric, hideaway, hole-and-corner, hugger mugger, hush hush, invisible, mystic, occult, occulted, offscreen, private, secret, sly, sneaking, stealthy, subterranean, surreptitious, undercover), захисний (apologetic, apologetical, defensive, fenceful, preventive, protective), прихований (arcane, blind, bosomed, close, closet, concealed, covert, delitescent, furtive, glossy, hideaway, latent, obscure, obumbrate, occulted, privy, secret, stealthy, ulterior, underneath, veiled). (various references)

Vietnamese		mật khó hiểu (cryptically), kín đáo (close, cryptically, dark, inconspicuous, private, rose, secret, shamefaced, undemonstrative), bí mật (backstairs, clandestine, close, cryptically, hush-hush, inward, inwards, private, subterranean, subterraneous, surreptitious, undercover, underground). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Language	Period	Translations
Latin	500 BCE-Modern	perplexi. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Derivations
	Words beginning with "cryptic": cryptically. (additional references)
	Words ending with "cryptic": procryptic. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Cryptic" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: creptic, criptic, crpytic, Cryotech, crypit, crypitc, crypsis, Cryptics, cryptiv, crytic, cyotic, cyrptic, tryptics. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "cryptic" (pronounced kri"ptik)
6	-r i" p t i k	triptych.
5	-i" p t i k	apocalyptic, ecliptic.
4	-p t i k	antiseptic, epileptic, fiberoptic, optic, peptic, septic, skeptic.
3	-t i k	acetic, acoustic, acrobatic, aerobatic, aesthetic, agnostic, alphabetic, altruistic, amniotic, anachronistic, analytic, anesthetic, antagonistic, Antarctic, antibiotic, antic, anticlimactic, aortic, apathetic, apologetic, apoplectic, aquatic, arctic, aristocratic, arithmetic, aromatic, arthritic, artistic, ascetic, asthmatic, astronautic, asymptomatic, atavistic, atheistic, athletic, attic, authentic, autistic, autocratic, automatic, axiomatic, ballistic, bombastic, bureaucratic, capitalistic, catalytic, cathartic, caustic, chaotic, characteristic, charismatic, chauvinistic, chiropractic, cinematic, climactic, climatic, coloristic, cosmetic, critic, cultic, cystic, democratic, dendritic, despotic, deterministic, diabetic, diagnostic, diagrammatic, dialectic, diamagnetic, didactic, dietetic, diplomatic, diuretic, dogmatic, domestic, dramatic, drastic, drumstick, dualistic, dynastic, ecclesiastic, eclectic, ecstatic, elastic, electrolytic, electromagnetic, electrostatic, emblematic, emetic, empathetic, emphatic, energetic, enigmatic, enthusiastic, enzymatic, epigenetic, erotic, erratic, euphemistic, evangelistic, exotic, expressionistic, extragalactic, fanatic, fantastic, fatalistic, ferromagnetic, feudalistic, frantic, frenetic, futuristic, galactic, genetic, geomagnetic, gigantic, granitic, gymnastic, halophytic, hectic, hedonistic, hemolytic, hepatic, heretic, hermaphroditic, holistic, homeostatic, homiletic, humanistic, hyperkinetic, hypnotic, iconoclastic, idealistic, idiomatic, idiosyncratic, idiotic, imperialistic, impressionistic, individualistic, inelastic, interscholastic, jingoistic, journalistic, kinesthetic, kinetic, lactic, legalistic, linguistic, logistic, lymphatic, magnetic, majestic, masochistic, materialistic, mathematic, mechanistic, melodramatic, militaristic, monastic, monochromatic, monopolistic, moralistic, mystic, narcissistic, narcotic, nationalistic, naturalistic, neritic, neurotic, novelistic, numismatic, oligopolistic, onomastic, operatic, opportunistic, optimistic, orthodontic, pancreatic, pantheistic, paralytic, paramagnetic, parasitic, parasympathetic, parthenogenetic, paternalistic, pathetic, patriotic, patristic, pectic, pedantic, peripatetic, pessimistic, phonetic, phosphatic, plastic, pluralistic, pneumatic, poetic, polytheistic, porphyritic, posttraumatic, pragmatic, primitivistic, prismatic, problematic, programmatic, propagandistic, prophetic, prophylactic, prostatic, prosthetic, psychoanalytic, psychosomatic, psychotherapeutic, psychotic, puristic, quixotic, realistic, relativistic, rheumatic, ritualistic, robotic, romantic, rustic, sadistic, sarcastic, schematic, scholastic, semantic, semiautomatic, semiotic, sensationalistic, simplistic, socialistic, static, statistic, stylistic, surrealistic, sycophantic, symbiotic, sympathetic, symptomatic, synergistic, synthetic, systematic, tactic, technocratic, terroristic, thematic, theocratic, therapeutic, thermoplastic, thrombolytic, transatlantic, traumatic, unapologetic, unauthentic, uncharacteristic, undemocratic, undiplomatic, unenthusiastic, unpatriotic, unrealistic, unsympathetic, voyeuristic.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "c-c-i-p-r-t-y"
	-2 letters: crypt, pricy, pyric, typic.
	-3 letters: city, pity, pyic, trip.
	-4 letters: cry, icy, pic, pit, pry, rip, tic, tip, try, yip.
	-5 letters: it, pi, ti.
	Words containing the letters "c-c-i-p-r-t-y"
	+2 letters: precocity.
	+3 letters: premycotic, procryptic.
	+4 letters: cryptically, cryptococci, cryptogamic, cryptogenic, cryptologic, cryptorchid, hypercritic, macrophytic, polycentric, practicably, practically, psychiatric, pyroclastic, pyrotechnic, reciprocity.
	+5 letters: archetypical, chalcopyrite, chymotryptic, cryptorchids, cryptorchism, hypercritics, hypocoristic, hypocritical, interpsychic, intrapsychic, lycanthropic, overcapacity, pantisocracy, perspicacity, phenocrystic, physiocratic, practicality, precipitancy, prophylactic, prostacyclin, psychometric, psychotropic, pyroelectric, pyrotechnics.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Expression	Frequency per Day	Expression	Frequency per Day
cryptic crossword	80	the globe and mail cryptic crossword	3
cryptic	49	code cryptic	3
cryptic slaughter	28	cryptic mensa test	3
chronic cryptic tonsillitis	24	cryptic writings	3
cryptic tonsils	22	answer cryptic mensa	3
cryptic studio	12	cryptic guardian	3
crossword cryptic puzzle	9	cryptic mensa puzzle	3
cryptic puzzle	9	cryptic tonsilitis	2
cryptic tonsillitis	8	crossword cryptic online	2
cryptic debris tonsil	5	cryptic mason	2
cryptic wintermoon	5	cryptic mensa quiz	2
cryptic mensa	5	cryptic discography slaughter	2
cryptic plasmids	4	crossword cryptic solving	2
cryptic tonsil	4	cryptic pop quiz	2
cryptic message	3	coming cryptic storm wintermoon	2
clue cryptic	3	solve cryptic crossword	2
		cryptic wind	2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Cryptic

Definition: Cryptic

Cryptic

Adjective

Synonyms: Cryptic

Synonyms within Context: Cryptic

Concealment

Crosswords: Cryptic

Modern Usage: Cryptic

Screenplays

Commercial Usage: Cryptic

Books

Periodicals

Music

Sounds Captioned with "Cryptic".

Non-Fiction Usage: Cryptic

Usage Frequency: Cryptic

Expression: Cryptic

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Cryptic

Modern Translation: Cryptic

Albanian

Arabic

Bulgarian

Chinese

Czech

Danish

Dutch

Farsi

Finnish

French

German

Greek

Hebrew

Hungarian

Indonesian

Italian

Korean

Manx

Pig Latin

Portuguese

Romanian

Russian

Serbo-Croatian

Spanish

Swedish

Turkish

Ukrainian

Vietnamese

Ancestral Language Translations: Cryptic

Derivations & Misspellings: Cryptic

Derivations

Misspellings

Rhyming with "Cryptic"

Anagrams: Cryptic

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

INDEX