mystery

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“
"It is what I call a mystery within a mystery, and it has never been properly cleared up.

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Definitions (28)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (15)

  1. noun One that is not fully understood or that baffles or eludes the understanding; an enigma: How he got in is a mystery.
  2. noun One whose identity is unknown and who arouses curiosity: The woman in the photograph is a mystery.
  3. noun A mysterious character or quality: a landscape with mystery and charm.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (9)

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Examples (50)

  • Unless of course the mystery is a real life one and involves murder and intrigue. —  EveryJoe
  • But at the heart of the mystery are the weapons crafted in the —  Bookgasm: Reading Material to Get Excited About
  • Sunset Boulevard narration from beyond the grave seemed a clever conceit when the show's central mystery was why she'd killed herself, but now that the mystery is the more prosaic question of '' What's the deal with the Applewhites 'captive?' ', her bland musings and facile ironies seem especially superfluous. —  Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch
  • But whether a new theory of supernovae will emerge from this mystery is an open question. lab rat share DNA, a history, and increasingly, their fates. robotic approach in rethinking the hypothetico-deductive method —  SEEDMAGAZINE.COM
  • The boxer who enters Saturday's showdowns as the biggest mystery is Indonesian Daud Yordan.
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

beauty ·  reality ·  horror ·  dream ·  joy ·  history ·  wonder ·  romance ·  tragedy ·  adventure ·  science

Used in the same contextWord Family

mystery:   mysteries
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (4)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Middle English misterie, from Latin mystērium, from Greek mustērion, secret rite, from mustēs, an initiate, from mūein, to close the eyes, initiate.
  2. Middle English misterie, service, craft, from Medieval Latin misterium, craft-guild, from Late Latin, alteration of Latin ministerium, occupation, from minister, assistant, servant; see mei-2 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Formerly also mistery; from Middle English mysterie = French mystère = Spanish misterio = Portuguese mysterio = Italian misterio, from Latin mysterium, from Greek μυστήριον, secret doctrine or rite, mystery, from μύστης, one initiated, from μυεῖν, initiate into the mysteries, teach, instruct, from μύειν, close the lips or eyes, from μῦ, a slight sound with closed lips.
  2. Commonly confused with mystery, to which it has been accommodation in spelling; properly mistery, from Middle English misterie, mysterie, for mister, mistere, myster, mester, etc., a trade, craft, etc., ult. from Latin ministerium, office, occupation: see mister.
 

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/ˈmɪstəri/
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