[cryp.tic] adj [LL crypticus, fr. Gk kryptikos, fr. kryptos] (ca. 1638) 1: secret, occult
2. a: having or seeming to have a hidden or ambiguous meaning: mysterious "~ messages" b: marked by an often perplexing brevity "~ marginal notes"
3: serving to conceal "~ coloration in animals"; also: exhibiting cryptic coloration "~ animals"
4: unrecognized "a ~ infection"
5: employing cipher or code syn see obscure -- cryp.ti.cal.ly adv