CRYPTIC


Meaning of CRYPTIC in English

cryp ‧ tic /ˈkrɪptɪk/ BrE AmE adjective

[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Language: Late Latin ; Origin: crypticus , from Greek , from kryptos ; ⇨ ↑ crypto- ]

having a meaning that is mysterious or not easily understood

cryptic remark/comment/statement etc

a cryptic note at the end of the letter

—cryptically /-kli/ adverb

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THESAURUS

▪ mysterious difficult to explain or understand, and often strange or slightly frightening:

the mysterious disappearance of ships in the waters of the Bermuda Triangle

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What’s that mysterious noise?

▪ puzzling difficult to explain or understand:

At first this must seem a puzzling question.

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I found her attitude deeply puzzling.

▪ baffling impossible to understand, so that you feel very confused:

It was a baffling case.

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Like many people, I find theroretical physics baffling.

▪ inexplicable formal impossible to explain:

For some inexplicable reason her mind went completely blank.

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Some things in life are inexplicable.

▪ enigmatic formal mysterious and difficult to understand, but also often attractive or interesting – used especially about people, their expressions, or things they say:

She gave him an enigmatic smile.

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an enigmatic remark

▪ cryptic formal having a meaning that is difficult to understand, and is not expressed in a clear direct way – used especially about things that people say or write:

I got a rather cryptic message from him.

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cryptic comments

▪ be a mystery if something is a mystery, you cannot understand how or why it happens:

Four years later, his death remains a complete mystery.

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It’s all a mystery to me.

▪ be shrouded/veiled in mystery if an event or a situation, especially one that happened a long time ago, is shrouded in mystery, it is mysterious because no one knows exactly what happened:

Stone age civilization, veiled in mystery as it is, has provided the greatest challenge to historians.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.