mysterious
[adjective]
Synonyms: strange, arcane, enigmatic, inexplicable, inscrutable, mystifying, perplexing, puzzling, secret, uncanny, unfathomable, weird

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Antonyms: unmysterious
Contrasted words: explainable, explicable, apprehensible, comprehendible, comprehensible, fathomable, graspable, intelligible, knowable, lucid, scrutable, candid, frank, honest, straightforward
Related Words: impenetrable, incognizable, incomprehensible, uncomprehensible, ungraspable, unintelligible, unknowable, abstruse, esoteric, occult, recondite, ambiguous, cryptic, enigmatic, equivocal, obscure

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English Thesaurus: mysterious, puzzling, baffling, inexplicable, enigmatic, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

mys‧te‧ri‧ous /mɪˈstɪəriəs $ -ˈstɪr-/ adjective

1. mysterious events or situations are difficult to explain or understand:
The police are investigating the mysterious deaths of children at the hospital.
Benson later disappeared in mysterious circumstances.
There’s something mysterious going on.

2. a mysterious person is someone who you know very little about and who seems strange or interesting Synonym : enigmatic:
I decided to find out more about my mysterious new neighbour.
a mysterious stranger

3. someone who behaves in a mysterious way says very little about what they are doing Synonym : secretive
mysterious about
Helen’s being very mysterious about her plans.
She hid her thoughts behind a mysterious smile.
—mysteriously adverb:
Jackson had mysteriously disappeared.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

mysterious difficult to explain or understand, and often strange or slightly frightening:
the mysterious disappearance of ships in the waters of the Bermuda Triangle
What’s that mysterious noise?
puzzling difficult to explain or understand:
At first this must seem a puzzling question.
I found her attitude deeply puzzling.
baffling impossible to understand, so that you feel very confused:
It was a baffling case.
Like many people, I find theroretical physics baffling.
inexplicable formal impossible to explain:
For some inexplicable reason her mind went completely blank.
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.
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.
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.
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.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

strange unusual or surprising, especially in a way that is difficult to understand, or that is a little frightening:
What’s that strange noise downstairs?
That’s strange – I’m sure I left my keys on the table.
a strange old man
funny/odd especially spoken a little strange and making you feel slightly surprised or worried:
There’s a funny smell in the kitchen.
It’s odd that you can’t remember him at all.
curious especially written strange, especially in an interesting way. Curious is a little more formal than strange:
a curious fact
There’s something rather curious about small-town America.
She remembered curious little details.
mysterious strange – used about something that people know little about and are unable to explain or understand:
He had disappeared in mysterious circumstances.
There were reports of mysterious lights in the sky.
eccentric strange in a way that seems slightly crazy and amusing – used about people and their behaviour:
He lived completely alone and had some slightly eccentric habits.
an eccentric old lady
peculiar slightly strange, and different from what you would normally expect – used especially when this is either amusing or worrying:
She sometimes wears rather peculiar clothes.
He had a peculiar expression on his face.
weird very strange or very different from what you are used to:
I had a weird dream last night.
It’s a weird and wonderful place.
bizarre extremely strange and different from what is usually considered normal:
It was a bizarre situation.
Mark’s behaviour was really bizarre.
surreal extremely strange and unconnected with real life or normal experiences, like something out of a dream:
His paintings are full of surreal images.
There is something surreal about the climate change talks in Bali.
The plant’s flowers were so big that they seemed almost surreal
uncanny very strange – used especially about someone having an unusual ability to do something, or looking surprisingly similar to someone:
She had an uncanny knack (=ability) of putting her finger right on a problem.
Alice had an uncanny resemblance to Josie.
his uncanny ability to pick racing winners

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲