Cryptic
adj, noun, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A cryptic crossword puzzle. informal
"He settled down to the cryptic in the Independent. He loved his crossword. It kept him mentally active, just as gossip did his wife."
- 1 Having hidden (unapparent) meaning.
- 2 Mystified or of an obscure nature; not easy to perceive.
"I think the Original of this conceit might be, That the Students of Nature, conſcious to her more cryptick wayes of working, reſolve many ſtrange effects into the nearer efficiency of ſecond cauſes[…]"
- 3 Involving use of a code or cipher.
- 4 Of a crossword puzzle, or a clue in such a puzzle, using, in addition to definitions, wordplay such as anagrams, homophones and hidden words to indicate solutions.
- 5 Well camouflaged; having good camouflage.
"Lonomia caterpillars are extremely cryptic."
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- 6 Serving as camouflage.
"cryptic colouring"
- 7 Apparently identical, but actually genetically distinct. not-comparable
"cryptic species"
- 8 Living in a cavity or small cave.
"Much of the Permian Capitan reef was strongly differentiated into open surface and cryptic communities."
- 1 having a puzzling terseness wordnet
- 2 having a secret or hidden meaning wordnet
- 3 of an obscure nature wordnet
Example
More examples"Baffled by Sherlock Holmes' cryptic remarks, Watson wondered whether Holmes was intentionally concealing his thoughts about the crime."
Etymology
From Late Latin crypticus, from Ancient Greek κρυπτικός (kruptikós), from κρυπτός (kruptós, “hidden”), from κρύπτω (krúptō, “to hide”). Doublet of kryptic.
Related phrases
More for "cryptic"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.