noun the guinea, or sphinx, baboon (cynocephalus sphinx).
2. sphinx ·noun hence: a person of enigmatical character and purposes, especially in politics and diplomacy.
3. sphinx ·noun any one of numerous species of large moths of the family sphingidae;
called also hawk moth.
4. sphinx ·noun in egyptian art, an image of granite or porphyry, having a human head, or the head of a ram or of a hawk, upon the wingless body of a lion.
5. sphinx ·noun on greek art and mythology, a she-monster, usually represented as having the winged body of a lion, and the face and breast of a young woman.