Enigmatic

//ˌɛnɪɡˈmætɪk// adj

adj ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Pertaining to an enigma.
  2. 2
    Mysterious.

    "Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. The clear light of the bright autumn morning had no terrors for youth and health like hers."

  3. 3
    Defying description.
  4. 4
    Enigmatical. variant
Adjective
  1. 1
    resembling an oracle in obscurity of thought wordnet
  2. 2
    not clear to the understanding wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
ambiguouspuzzlingableabstruseamphibologicalamphibolous

Example

More examples

"The Mona Lisa has an enigmatic smile."

Etymology

From Latin aenigmaticus and French énigmatique, from Ancient Greek αἰνιγματικός (ainigmatikós); equivalent to enigma + -tic.

Related phrases

enigmatic canon

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.