mysterious
adjectivecommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//mɪˈstɪə̯.ɹi.əs//
- United States//mɪˈstɪɹi.əs//
- United States//məˈstɪɹi.əs//
Of unknown origin.
adjective
- 1
Of unknown origin.
He received a mysterious phone call this morning.
- 2
Having unknown qualities.
Our boss is a mysterious man who hardly ever meets with us.
God moves in a myſterious way, / His wonders to perform; / He plants his footſteps in the ſea, / And rides upon the ſtorm.
- 3
Difficult to understand.
Why he left without saying goodbye is quite mysterious.
Buttressed by clothes, walls and objects, there was the bourgeois family, the most mysterious institution of the age.
- 4
Deliberately evasive or enigmatic.
Stop being mysterious and just tell me what you want.
Etymology
From Middle English *misterius (implied in misteriusly), probably partly from Middle French mystérieux and partly from Latin mystērium + -ous. By surface analysis, mystery + -ous.
Forms
- comparative
- more mysterious
- superlative
- most mysterious