Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Of, relating to, or being a religious mystery.
- adjective Arousing wonder or curiosity, especially by being difficult to explain or understand.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Partaking of or containing mystery; obscure; not revealed or explained; unintelligible.
- Expressing, intimating, or implying a mystery: as, a mysterious look; his manner was very mysterious and important.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Of or pertaining to mystery; containing a mystery; difficult or impossible to understand; inexplicable; obscure; not revealed or explained; enigmatical; incomprehensible.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Of unknown origin
- adjective Having unknown qualities
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding
- adjective of an obscure nature
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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I must frankly admit, however, that, either owing to the derangement of my nerves, or my new impressions in my new lodgings, or my recent melancholy, I gradually began at dusk to sink into that condition which is so common with me now at night in my illness, and which I call mysterious horror.
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Reinhard Kala Gertze, a Swapo member in training for a foreign affairs position in the movement, was arrested in 1983 and taken to what he described as a mysterious place.
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Ability to know this model and rule constitutes what we call the mysterious excellence (of a governor).
The Tao Teh King, or the Tao and its Characteristics Laozi 1856
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He had therefore made up his mind to watch the motions of _Cooleen Bawn_, and he would have included Reilly in his surveillance were it not that Lanigan informed him of what he termed the mysterious disappearance of the under-gardener.
Willy Reilly The Works of William Carleton, Volume One William Carleton 1831
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Mass walkout at UN as Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad raises 9/11 'mystery' THE Iranian President has sparked a mass walkout of diplomats at the UN after attacking Western powers over the Holocaust and 9/11, which he called a "mysterious incident".
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In 185 A.D., Chinese astronomers witnessed what they called a mysterious "guest star" that appeared in the sky and lingered for about eight months.
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Mass walkout at UN as Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad raises 9/11 'mystery' THE Iranian President has sparked a mass walkout of diplomats at the UN after attacking Western powers over the Holocaust and 9/11, which he called a "mysterious incident".
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Western diplomats walked out on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after he questioned what he called the "mysterious September 11 incident" during his fiercely anti-American diatribe.
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Ability to know this model and rule constitutes what we call the mysterious excellence (of a governor).
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England moves in mysterious ways when it comes to Bank Holiday Weekends.
Jean's Knitting Jean 2009
PossibleUnderscore commented on the word mysterious
“I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat.�?
-Edgar Allan Poe
Correct me if I am mistaken: shouldn't the statement have 'mysterious' as an adverb?
July 22, 2009
sionnach commented on the word mysterious
Mr Poe, he don't write so good.
July 22, 2009