Mysterious

Definition: Mysterious

Mysterious

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 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".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "mysterious" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references)

Synonyms: Mysterious

Concealment

Undisclosed; untold; covert; (latent); untraceable; mysterious; (unintelligible).

Unintelligibility

Indefinite, garbled; (indistinct); perplexed; (confused); undetermined, vague, loose, ambiguous; mysterious; mystic, mystical; acroamatic, acroamatical; metempirical; transcendental; occult, recondite, abstruse, crabbed.

Wonder

Wonderful, wondrous; surprising; Verb: unexpected; unheard of; mysterious; (inexplicable); miraculous.

Crosswords: Mysterious

It's only in the mysterious equation of love that any logical reasons can be found (A Beautiful Mind; writing credit: Akiva Goldsman)

That a mysterious, all-powerful God created the Universe, and then decided not to leave a single evidence of his existence (Contact; writing credit: Carl Sagan;)

Perhaps this is the mysterious Mr. Right I have been waiting my whole life to meet (Bridget Jones's Diary; writing credit: Helen Fielding)

We don't like what we don't understand, in fact it scares us, and this monster is mysterious at least (Beauty and the Beast; writing credit: Roger Allers; Kelly Asbury)

Mankind, probably the most mysterious species on our planet (Lola rennt; writing credit: Tom Tykwer)

It's something mysterious (Invisible Touch; performing artist: Genesis)

You were always the mysterious one (Foolish Games; performing artist: Jewel)

In such a mysterious way (Mother and Child Reunion; performing artist: Paul Simon; writing credit: Paul Simon)

The Brady Kids on Mysterious Island (1972)

Mysterious Murder (1964)

The Mysterious Package (1960)

Mysterious Cowboy (1952)

The Mysterious Desperado (1949)

Mysterious Ways (performing artist: U2)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• The Pope's Armada: Unlocking the Secrets of Mysterious and Powerful New Sects in the Church (reference)

• Paul Gauguin: Mysterious Affinities (Great Painters Series) (reference)

• The Catcher Was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg (reference)

• Mysterious Boarder (Dawson's Creek, No 3) (reference)

• The Mysterious Alabaster Bottle (reference)

  (more book examples)

Theater & Movies

• Fushigi Yugi - The Mysterious Play - Volume 1, Suzaku (reference)

• Mysterious Origins of Man: Vol. 1-3 (reference)

• The Land Before Time V - The Mysterious Island (reference)

  (more DVD examples; more video examples)

Music

• Mysterious Light (reference)

• Mysterious Traveller (Sl) (Multichannel/Stereo) [SACD] (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

High Tech

• Schizm: Mysterious Journey (reference)

  (more camera examples; more video game examples; more computer examples; more electronic examples; more software examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Probing the mysterious heart of the Crab Nebula, the tattered remains of an exploding star, ... Credit: NASA.

HST has resolved, to an unprecedented detail of .1 arc second, a mysterious elliptical ring of ... Credit: NASA.

Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have stumbled upon a mysterious object that ... Credit: NASA.

The Hubble telescope has obtained the best images yet of a mysterious mirror-imaged pair of ... Credit: NASA.

The decapitation of a great block head by the mysterious agency of the claret coloured coat. Credit: Library of Congress.

Tugurt was at her feet, cruel, leering, mysterious, fascinating. Credit: Library of Congress.

The mysterious stranger's story. Credit: Library of Congress.

Pogo]. The mysterious huddles the men conduct behind the lines -- hmp! Pretty suspiciou. Credit: Library of Congress.

Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Mysterious Asia. Exhibition on the Pike. Credit: Library of Congress.

Mysterious Mahendra master of the human mind. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

What they were I could not at all make out, but some mysterious change seemed instantly to pass over us.

He felt that it was tall and stately when it came beside him, and that its mysterious presence filled him with a solemn dread

But the object that most drew my attention, in the mysterious package, was a certain affair of fine red cloth, much worn and faded

A mysterious frown is becoming visible in the depths of the sky.

It has a slow and dark birth, more mysterious than the birth of the body

These papers are delivered to a set of artists, very dexterous in finding out the mysterious meanings of words, syllables, and letters

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Health

Placebos offer some individuals pain relief although whether and how they have an effect is mysterious and somewhat controversial. (references)

In the early 1970s, a mysterious clustering of arthritis cases occurred among children in Lyme, Connecticut, and surrounding towns. (references)

Plaques and tangles remained mysterious substances until the 1980's, when neuroscientists--the scientists who study the brain--discovered the proteins that make up these telltale anomalies. (references)

Human Rights

Belarus

During the year, two operatives who were working on the case from the criminal search unit of the Prosecutor's Office died under mysterious circumstances. (references)

Burkina Faso

Sergeant Edmond Kouama, one of those convicted in the Ouedraogo case and a key suspect in the 1998 Zongo killings, died under mysterious circumstances in January. (references)

Namibia

For example, in April Nghihangwa Kandume in Opalasha township in Eenhana, died under mysterious circumstances after he was seen in the company of seven FAA soldiers. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Expressions using "mysterious": mysterious castle ♦ mysterious pig disease ♦ mysterious swine disease. Additional references.

Afrikaans

misterieus (abstruse). (various references)

Albanian

misterioz (arcane, deep, delphian, dim), i mistershëm (cryptic, hidden, magic, magical, mystic, occult, puzzling, uncanny, weird). (various references)

Arabic 

‏مبهم (abstruse, ambiguous, cryptic, dark, dim, enigmatic, equivocal, hazy, impenetrable, incomprehensible, inscrutable, misty, mystic, obscure, recondite, unclear, unfathomable, unintelligible, vague), ‏غامض (abstruse, ambiguous, cloudy, deep, dim, double faced, dreamy, enigmatic, evasive, fuzzy, grave, hazy, impenetrable, incomprehensible, indecisive, indefinite, indeterminate, indistinct, indistinguishable, inscrutable, intangible, lax, magic, magical, misty, mystic, nebulous, obscure, occult, opaque, puzzling, recondite, secret, shady, sketchy, slippery, sloppy, uncertain, unintelligible, vague, woolly), ‏سري (clandestine, classified, close, closet, confidential, covert, cryptic, discreet, furtive, hugger mugger, hush hush, inmost, low key, mystic, occult, off the record, private, privy, sacramental, secret, slinking, stealthy, subterranean, surreptitious, umbilical, undercover, underground, underhand), ‏خفي (covert, cryptic, disguised, hidden, invisible, occult, secret, stealthy, surreptitious, ulterior, unseen, veiled). (various references)

Bulgarian 

тайнствен (cabbalistic, eerie, eery, impenetrable, mystic, orphic, uncanny, unearthly, unsearchable), мистериозен (arcane, mystic, occult), загадъчен (apocalyptic, baffling, cryptic, delphian, delphic, enigmatic, inscrutable, mystic, oracular). (various references)

Chinese 

莫名其妙 (baffling, odd, unaccountable), 賾 , 邃 (deep, distant), 玄 (black, to aim), 神秘 , 神祕 (mystery), 神奇 (miraculous), 神 (divine essence, God, lively, soul, spirit, spiritual being, unusual), 縕 (generative force, hemp, orange color, vague), 奧 (obscure). (various references)

Czech

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

Danish

mystisk svinesygdom (blue disease, blue ear disease, blue-ear disease of pigs, mysterious pig disease, mysterious swine disease, mystery pig disease, new pig disease, porcine epidemical abortion, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, PRRS, purple ears disease), PRRS (blue disease, blue ear disease, blue-ear disease of pigs, mysterious pig disease, mysterious swine disease, mystery pig disease, new pig disease, porcine epidemical abortion, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, PRRS, purple ears disease), porcint reproduktions-og respirationssyndrom (blue disease, blue ear disease, blue-ear disease of pigs, mysterious pig disease, mysterious swine disease, mystery pig disease, new pig disease, porcine epidemical abortion, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, PRRS, purple ears disease), blaa sygdom (blue disease, blue ear disease, blue-ear disease of pigs, mysterious pig disease, mysterious swine disease, mystery pig disease, new pig disease, porcine epidemical abortion, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, PRRS, purple ears disease), blaa abort (blue disease, blue ear disease, blue-ear disease of pigs, mysterious pig disease, mysterious swine disease, mystery pig disease, new pig disease, porcine epidemical abortion, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, PRRS, purple ears disease). (various references)

Dutch

mysterieus (abstruse), geheimzinnig (abstruse, apocalyptic). (various references)

Esperanto

mistera (abstruse). (various references)

Faeroese

gátuførur (abstruse), dularfullur (abstruse). (various references)

Farsi 

مرموز (Cryptic, Exotic, Inscrutable, Recondite, Shady, Unaccountable, Unco, Weird), مبهم (Ambiguous, Dim, Dusky, Enigmatic, Esoteric, Imprecise, Misty, Obscure, Opaque, Vague), اسرارامیز (Numinous, Occult, Secret). (various references)

Finnish

mystillinen (mystical), salaperäinen (secretive). (various references)

French

mystérieux. (various references)

German

rätselhaft (baffling, cryptic, cryptically, enicmatical, enigmatic, enigmatically, enigmaticly, puzzling), mysteriös (abstruse), geheimnisvoll (arcane, cryptic, furtive, mysteriously, mystic, mystical, mysticly, occult, secretive, secretively). (various references)

Greek 

μυστηριώδησ (cabalistic, eerie, mystic, mystical, occult, uncanny), μυστηριώδης (secretive), αινιγματικός (enigmatic). (various references)

Hebrew 

מסתורי (arcane, enigmatic, mystic, occult, unearthly), מסטורי, רזי (secret). (various references)

Hungarian

titokzatos (apocalyptic, cabalistic, cryptic, eerie, eery, enigmatic, enigmatical, esoteric, hermetic, hieroglyphic, mystic, secret). (various references)

Indonesian

pelik (complicated, tough), gaib (hidden, incrutable, invisible, magic, occult, supernatural, unseen), aneh (abnormal, irregular, odd, oddly, peculiar, queer, strange, unnatural, unusual). (various references)

Italian

misterioso (abstruse, cryptic, eerie, enigmatic, occult, secret, suspect, suspicious, unearthly, weird). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

玄妙 (abstruse, occult). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

ミステリアス , きっかい (outrageous, strange, weird, wonderful), きかい (chance, instrument, machine, mechanism, opportunity, outrageous, shogi circles, strange, the goworld, weird, wonderful), しんぴてき, まかふしぎ (profound mystery), ふかち (unknowable), めんよう (sheep, strange, weird), げんみょう (abstruse, occult), えたいのしれない (strange, suspicious, unfamiliar). (various references)

Korean 

신비한 (hermetic, Hermetical). (various references)

Manx

folliaghtagh (classified, confidential, esoteric, secret, secretive, stealthy). (various references)

Pig Latin

ysteriousmay.(various references)

Polish

tajemniczy (abstruse). (various references)

Portuguese

misterioso (arcane, daedal, eerie, eery, impenetrable, occult, oracular, orphic, recondite, subtil, subtile, subtle, uncanny, unsearchable, weird). (various references)

Romanian

misterios (awsome, daedal, dark, darkly, deep, enigmatical, enigmatically, hidden, mysteriously, mystic, occult, secret, uncanny, unsearchable), tainic (close, cover, covert, dark, hidden, inmost, inner, innermost, inside, intimate, isolated, mysteriously, mystic, obscure, private, privy, quiet, secret, stealthy), secret (arcanum, close, confidential, cover, covertly, hidden, hugger mugger, internal, mystery, occult, private, privy, quiet, reticence, secrecy, secret, secretly, ulterior, underground, undisclosed, unspoken, untold). (various references)

Russian 

таинственный (bellicose, cryptic, eerie, mystic, numinous, occult, Orphic, unsearchable). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

misteriozan, zagonetan (enigmatic, inscrutable, puzzling), volšeban, tajanstven (arcane, dark, eldritch, hidden, occult, orphic, secretive), opskurantan (obscure). (various references)

Spanish

misterioso (dark, eerie, eery, eldritch, inscrutable, intriguing, lurid, occult, odd, oracular, puzzling, queer, shrouded in mystery, spooky, subtil, subtile, subtle, uncanny, weird). (various references)

Swedish

mystisk (arcane, inscrutable, mysteriousness, mystic, mystical, shadowy, uncanny), gåtfull (enigmatic, oracular, puzzling, unaccountable). (various references)

Thai

น่าพิศวง, ลี้ลับ. (various references)

Turkish

gizemli (enigmatic, enigmatical, mystic, secret, secretive, sphinxlike), esrarlı (arcane, cryptic, cryptical, deep, inscrutable, mystical, numinous, occult, secret, unaccountable), esrarengiz (bottomless, eerie, eery, enigmatic, enigmatical, uncanny, veiled in secrecy, weird), bilinmeyen (mystery, obscure, occult, recondite, secret, strange, unbeknown, unbeknownst, unknown, unknown quantity, x). (various references)

Turkmen 

syrly (weird). (various references)

Ukrainian

таємничий (cabbalistic, cryptic, eldritch, esoteric, mystical, occult, orphean, orphic, secretive, unearthly, weird), незбагненний (baffling, bottomless, fathomless, inapprehensible, incomprehensible, unapproachable, unknowable, unsearchable). (various references)

Vietnamese 

thần bí, khó hiểu (deep, delphian, delphic, enigmatic, enigmatical, incomprehensible, intricate, oracular, perplexed, recondite, riddling, unintelligible, weird), huyền bí khó giải thích, bí ẩn (deep, enigmatic, enigmatical, riddling). (various references)

Welsh

cyfriniol (mystic). (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "mysterious": mysteriously, mysteriousness, mysteriousnesses. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Mysterious" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Misterioso, misterious, Mycerinus, mysterians, mysteriis, mysterio, mysteriou, mysteryous. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-1 letter: misroutes, moistures.

-2 letters: erotisms, isometry, misroute, moisture, mortises, mousiest, oestrums, serosity, strumose, tourisms, trisomes.

-3 letters: erotism, estrous, estrums, isomers, missort, missout, misters, misuser, mitoses, moister, mortise, mossier, mousers, mousier, mussier, musters, mustier, oestrum, oestrus, ousters, oysters, rosiest, russety, serious, sistrum, smiters, somites, sorites, sorties, sourest, souters, storeys, stories, stoures, stourie, stymies, suiters, suitors.

+2 letters: multisensory, mysteriously.

+4 letters: mysteriousness.