mysterious

A2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /mɪˈstɪɹi.əs/ UK /mɪˈstɪə̯.ɹi.əs/ See IPA manual

adj Freq #2946

Meanings

1

adj
Difficult to understand or explain; strange and puzzling.

Why he left without saying goodbye is quite mysterious.
2

adj
Whose origin or identity is unknown.

She received a mysterious phone call early this morning.
3

adj
Deliberately secretive or hard to read.

Stop being so mysterious and just tell me what you want.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · difficult to understand or... enigmatic inexplicable

2 adj · whose origin or identity is... untraceable

3 adj · deliberately secretive or... secretive

More arcane crypticill-definedinenubilable mysterialmysteriosomysticrunishsibyllinesysteriousuncertain

Opposites

known unambiguous unmysteriouswell-defined

Word family

Forms mysteriousness

Derived forms mysteriouslymysteriousnessunmysterious

Related forms ambiguous intriguing mystery strange vague

Etymology

From Middle English *misterius (implied in misteriusly), probably partly from Middle French mystérieux and partly from Latin mystērium + -ous. By surface analysis, mystery + -ous.

*misterius Middle English mystérieux Middle French

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Communication

# mysterious

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** mɪˈstɪɹi.əs
**IPA (UK):** mɪˈstɪə̯.ɹi.əs
**Frequency rank:** 2946

## Meanings
1. Difficult to understand or explain; strange and puzzling.
2. Whose origin or identity is unknown.
3. Deliberately secretive or hard to read.

## Examples
- Why he left without saying goodbye is quite mysterious.
- She received a mysterious phone call early this morning.
- Stop being so mysterious and just tell me what you want.

## Synonyms
- arcane
- cryptic
- enigmatic
- ill-defined
- inenubilable
- mysterial
- mysterioso
- mystic
- runish
- sibylline
- systerious
- uncertain

## Antonyms
- known
- unambiguous
- unmysterious
- well-defined

## Derived Forms
- mysteriously
- mysteriousness
- unmysterious

## Related Forms
- ambiguous
- intriguing
- mystery
- strange
- vague

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *misterius
- Root: mystérieux
- Affix: -ious - full of

## Etymology
From Middle English *misterius (implied in misteriusly), probably partly from Middle French mystérieux and partly from Latin mystērium + -ous. By surface analysis, mystery + -ous.

## AI Etymology
Mysterious comes from Middle English *misterius (implied in misteriusly), probably partly from Middle French mystérieux and partly from Latin mystērium + -ous. By surface analysis, mystery + -ous. In present-day English its meanings include difficult to understand or explain; strange and puzzling, whose origin or identity is unknown, and deliberately secretive or hard to read. The historical chain runs through *misterius (Middle English) and mystérieux (Middle French). Related and derived forms include ambiguous, intriguing, mystery, and mysteriously.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Communication

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mysterious

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