1
as in mysterious
being beyond one's powers to know, understand, or explain
puzzled by the cryptic e-mail message left on his computer
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ambiguous
having an often intentionally veiled or uncertain meaning
the oracle offered only cryptic predictions that could be interpreted any number of different ways
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cryptic
There are also echoes of The Exorcist when The Man (Neil Sandilands) arrives, a cryptic, bearded shaman whose presence is about as reassuring as Mel Gibson on a good day.
—
Damon Wise, Deadline, 9 Mar. 2025
Madonna, a longtime advocate for — and based on a cryptic 2022 TikTok post, potentially a member of — the LGBTQ+ community has spoken out for trans rights in a new Instagram Story that also appears to be a reaction to the controversy over the 2024 best picture nominee Emilia Pérez.
—James Factora, Them, 7 Mar. 2025
Women possessed by the gods were oracles, predicting the future in cryptic utterances.
—Vipin Bharathan, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2025
Escher String Quartet Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts, 2132 Hillside Road, Storrs
The Escher String Quartet, named for the cryptic artist M.C. Escher, performs pieces by Ravel, Mendelssohn and Mozart on March 4 at 7:30 p.m. $39, $37 seniors, free for students and youth.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 1 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cryptic
Damon Wise, Deadline, 9 Mar. 2025
Madonna, a longtime advocate for — and based on a cryptic 2022 TikTok post, potentially a member of — the LGBTQ+ community has spoken out for trans rights in a new Instagram Story that also appears to be a reaction to the controversy over the 2024 best picture nominee Emilia Pérez.
—James Factora, Them, 7 Mar. 2025
Women possessed by the gods were oracles, predicting the future in cryptic utterances.
—Vipin Bharathan, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2025
Escher String Quartet Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts, 2132 Hillside Road, Storrs
The Escher String Quartet, named for the cryptic artist M.C. Escher, performs pieces by Ravel, Mendelssohn and Mozart on March 4 at 7:30 p.m. $39, $37 seniors, free for students and youth.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 1 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cryptic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cryptic
Adjective
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After his first game since Feb. 26, Porziņģis detailed his long journey back from a mysterious illness.—
Jay King,
The Athletic,
16 Mar. 2025
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Everyone is a suspect, and there’s a lot of buildup to finding out what happened at a fateful St. Patrick’s Day party 15 years prior — especially when Chelsea (Ilana Glazer) makes a mysterious reference to an incident that made the entire school ostracize her.—
Marianne Eloise,
Vulture,
14 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Team Harris’s strategy appeared to rely heavily on a short campaign window, with a sparse interview schedule, slow windup to unscripted events, and ambiguous policy positions.—
W. James Antle III,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
14 Mar. 2025
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Instead, security leaders typically present compliance checklists, regulatory obligations and ambiguous risk scores that executives then struggle to translate into financial and operational impact.—
Jerry Layden,
Forbes,
12 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The actor, who has built a career playing deliciously inscrutable villains, stars as Alfred Moretti, an enigmatic pop icon who, after decades out of the spotlight, re-emerges to announce the release of a new album.—
Jessica Wang,
EW.com,
12 Mar. 2025
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There’s a lot more mythology where that came from, including an enigmatic online game.—
Simon Vozick-Levinson,
Rolling Stone,
4 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Disney had released some trailers but this was still an obscure Star Wars series following characters that most fans knew little about, and casual fans had never heard of before.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes,
10 Mar. 2025
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Prior to 1950, McCarthy was an obscure first-term senator from Wisconsin.—
Beverly Gage,
The New Yorker,
10 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The disruptions in flow call to mind the format of Be My Guest With Ina Garten, in which Ina both preps for a guest as well as cooks with them, but Meghan’s uncanny flashbacks somehow further untether the show from the reality of her not-kitchen.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
7 Mar. 2025
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Reality Blues wades into the mysteries of our uncanny world, trying to catch a vibe.—
Meaghan Garvey,
Pitchfork,
6 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Boat Rocker’s slate currently comprises the likes of 1980s throwback dark comedy Video Nasty, drama series Mix Tape and Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber’s Sundance 2024 doc War Game.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
11 Mar. 2025
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The outage was random and intermittent, lasting for 45 minutes at a time, then resuming only to go dark again for another 45 minutes.—
John Brandon,
Forbes,
11 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Founded on the ethos of art as a form of mystic healing, the label reimagines the family heirloom—and invites its patrons to examine their relationship with objects.—
Nia Shumake,
Essence,
3 Feb. 2025
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Healy Lake members have long considered their dogs to be mystic companions, according to Combs.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
4 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Cryptic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cryptic. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
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