noun
ADJECTIVE
▪ big , great
▪
How the disease started is one of medicine's great mysteries.
▪ little , minor , small
▪
one of life's little mysteries
▪ complete , total
▪
She was a total ~ to him despite their long association.
▪ whole
▪
He had found the clue to unlock the whole ~
▪ certain
▪
Her blue eyes had a certain ~.
▪ genuine , real
▪ central
▪
the central ~ of the story
▪ deep , profound
▪
a place of deep ~ and enchantment
▪ enduring , eternal , long-standing
▪ ancient
▪ dark
▪ intriguing
▪ impenetrable , unfathomable
▪ insoluble ( esp. BrE ), unsolvable ( esp. AmE )
▪ unexplained , unsolved
▪ divine , religious , sacred
▪ scientific
▪ detective , murder
▪
He is the author of several murder mysteries.
VERB + MYSTERY
▪ be , present (sb with) , remain
▪
How these insects actually communicate presents something of a ~.
▪ have , hold
▪
It was easy to believe that the house held some great ~.
▪ be cloaked in , be shrouded in
▪
The whole incident was shrouded in ~.
▪ deepen
▪
The silence has deepened the ~ surrounding his work.
▪ lose
▪
Air travel has lost much of its ~.
▪ retain
▪ clear up , crack , discover , explain , figure out , piece together , resolve , solve , uncover , unlock , unravel , unveil
▪
The police are close to solving the ~ of the missing murder weapon.
▪ shed light on , throw light on
▪
The witness could shed no light on the ~ of the deceased's identity.
▪ explore , fathom , grapple with , penetrate , probe , understand
▪
Her poetry attempts to penetrate the dark ~ of death.
▪ contemplate , ponder , ponder on
▪
She pondered the ~ of the disappearing thief.
MYSTERY + VERB
▪ remain
▪
Mystery remains over who will star in the film.
▪ deepen
▪
The ~ deepened when the police's only suspect was found murdered.
▪ unfold , unravel
▪ involve sb/sth
▪ surround sth
▪
the ~ surrounding her resignation
MYSTERY + NOUN
▪ man , woman
▪
Their suspect was a ~ man: a quiet, happily married man with no enemies.
▪ caller ( esp. BrE ), guest
▪ shopper
▪ benefactor ( esp. BrE )
▪ bidder , buyer (both esp. BrE )
▪ prize ( BrE )
▪ tour ( BrE )
▪ bug , disease , illness , virus (all esp. BrE )
▪ novel , story , thriller
PREPOSITION
▪ ~ about
▪
There's a bit of a ~ about this child.
▪ ~ as to
▪
It remains a ~ as to where he was buried.
▪ ~ to
▪
My sister is a complete ~ to me.
PHRASES
▪ an air of ~ , an aura of ~
▪
Wearing dark glasses gives him an air of ~.
▪ something of a ~
▪ take the ~ out of sth
▪
Modern weather forecasts try to take the ~ out of meteorology.