Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Of, relating to, or being a mystery: mysterious and infinite truths.
- adj. Simultaneously arousing wonder and inquisitiveness, and eluding explanation or comprehension: a mysterious visitor; mysterious conduct.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Partaking of or containing mystery; obscure; not revealed or explained; unintelligible.
- Expressing, intimating, or implying a mystery: as, a mysterious look; his manner was very mysterious and important. Synonyms Mysterious, Mystic, Cabalistic, dark, occult, enigmatical, incomprehensible, inscrutable. Mysterious is the most common word for that which is unknown and excites curiosity and perhaps awe; the word is sometimes used where mystic would be more precise. Mystic is especially used of that which has been designed to excite and baffle curiosity, involving meanings in signs, rites, etc., but not with sufficient plainness to be understood by any but the initiated. Mystic is used poetically for mysterious; it may imply the power of prophesying. The meaning of cabalistic is shaped by the facts of the Jewish Cabala. The word is therefore applicable especially to occult meanings attributed to written signs.
Wiktionary
- adj. Of unknown origin
- adj. Having unknown qualities
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Of or pertaining to mystery; containing a mystery; difficult or impossible to understand; inexplicable; obscure; not revealed or explained; enigmatical; incomprehensible.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding
- adj. of an obscure nature
Etymologies
- French mystérieux, from mystère, secret, from Latin mystērium; see mystery1. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“I must frankly admit, however, that, either owing to the derangement of my nerves, or my new impressions in my new lodgings, or my recent melancholy, I gradually began at dusk to sink into that condition which is so common with me now at night in my illness, and which I call mysterious horror.”
“Reinhard Kala Gertze, a Swapo member in training for a foreign affairs position in the movement, was arrested in 1983 and taken to what he described as a mysterious place.”
“He had therefore made up his mind to watch the motions of _Cooleen Bawn_, and he would have included Reilly in his surveillance were it not that Lanigan informed him of what he termed the mysterious disappearance of the under-gardener.”
“In 185 A.D., Chinese astronomers witnessed what they called a mysterious "guest star" that appeared in the sky and lingered for about eight months.”
“Mass walkout at UN as Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad raises 9/11 'mystery' THE Iranian President has sparked a mass walkout of diplomats at the UN after attacking Western powers over the Holocaust and 9/11, which he called a "mysterious incident".”
“Western diplomats walked out on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after he questioned what he called the "mysterious September 11 incident" during his fiercely anti-American diatribe.”
“Ability to know this model and rule constitutes what we call the mysterious excellence (of a governor).”
“England moves in mysterious ways when it comes to Bank Holiday Weekends.”
“There is an old saying "The Lord moves in mysterious ways his wonders to perform.”
“On Brothers reunited: Life works in mysterious ways.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘mysterious’.
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ghost
This is Ghost List 2 ( the kind that go 'boo!' ) :P
( open list )
more:
http://www.wordnik.com/lists/macabrephantom, spectral, specter, spectre, spooky, poltergeist, haunt, spirit, banshee, cryptic, shadow, phantasm and 311 more...
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Adjectives
sagacious, average, angry, mad, crazy, giant, ugly, pretty, happy, sad, lonely, solitary and 119 more...
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dream words
( randomness, open list, dreams, creativity )
words or phrases related to all things dreamy
related:
http://www.wor...phantasmagoria, illusion, imagination, slumber, sky, moon, cloud nine, lucid, fantasy, creativity, somnambulism, dreamer and 40 more...
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Used poetically
A list of words with definitions containing the phrase "used poetically."
nepenthes, sigh, mysterious, Albion, linden, glaive, herald, gladness, alway, gules, Tyrrhenian, begat and 2 more...
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intueri's Words
inveigle, dolorous, archly, feckless, resplendent, concatenation, peripatetic, delightful, cookie, fey, ephemeral, effervescent and 347 more...
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dandy's list
favourite words
cattywampus, wibble, fenagle, whisker, sneeze, wisteria, honeysuckle, clove, perihelion, glimmer, twilight, dusk and 264 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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Apples to Apples: Green Cards
A complete list of the green cards (adjectives) from the popular word game.
absurd, addictive, adorable, aged, American, ancient, animated, annoying, appetizing, arrogant, awesome, awkward and 237 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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mango22's Words
avalanche, apple, arrividerci, awry, adamant, asunder, barter, beloved, calm, cataclysmic, catastrophe, coat and 143 more...
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feeling words
twitterpated, loquacious, ambiguous, pensive, sluggish, anxious, adventurous, curious, abandoned, absent-minded, abrasive, abused and 653 more...
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Wordie Working Overtime - some words ...
Some words of from XTC songs that I like or for some reason stand out. That and a dollar will get you a ride on the bus.
transistor, impaled, settee, sunspecs, neon, meccanic, infatuation, greenhouse, capers, consequence, excepted, helicopter and 112 more...
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favorite words
ennui, bonhomie, eschew, liaison, serendipity, lovely, dusk, kitten, epitome, sexy, beloved, darling and 396 more...
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Mobile Microsite
Words for marketing mobile emails to email marketers.
incandescence, bolt, dart, pealing, akimbo, critical, get focused, zoom in, concentrate, zonk out, freak out, freebee and 99 more...
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lauren_inretrospective's list
words I adore....
ethereal, luminiscent, etiquette, surreal, plumage, feathery, vintage, jubilee, rouge, satin, fathom, height and 101 more...
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Papageno's Words, Pt. I
hobbledehoy, absquatulate, chthonic, prolix, ululate, internecine, verisimilitude, animadversion, concupiscence, vertiginous, cucullate, lucubrate and 1554 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for mysterious.
sionnach Mr Poe, he don't write so good. Jul 22, 2009
PossibleUnderscore “I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat.�?
-Edgar Allan Poe
Correct me if I am mistaken: shouldn't the statement have 'mysterious' as an adverb? Jul 22, 2009