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Other Words From
- enig·mati·cal·ly adverb
- nonen·ig·matic adjective
- nonen·ig·mati·cal adjective
- nonen·ig·mati·cal·ly adverb
- unen·ig·matic adjective
- unen·ig·mati·cal adjective
- unen·ig·mati·cal·ly adverb
Word History and Origins
Origin of enigmatic1
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
The producers immediately looked to Redmayne to play the titular Jackal, a scrupulous British long-range assassin with an enigmatic quality.
Ms Amess also paid tribute to her father as "the most hardest-working person I've ever met", describing him as someone who loved helping people and who was "full of life and enigmatic and passionate".
Unexplained absences from public view have been nothing out of the ordinary for this most enigmatic of presidents.
This was perhaps her final makeover, a metamorphosis which firmly established her as the enigmatic diva we know today.
Now a recent study in the journal Nature Astronomy reveals something new and enigmatic about WASP-107 b.
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More About Enigmatic
What does enigmatic mean?
The adjective enigmatic can be used to describe someone or something that’s puzzling or mysterious.
Enigmatic means resembling an enigma—someone or something that’s puzzling, mysterious, or difficult to make sense of. The word enigma can also mean a riddle, but it’s more often used to refer to something that’s so perplexing that it seems like a riddle (and perhaps was intended to seem like one), as in That book is completely enigmatic—I have no idea what it’s really about.
If you call a person enigmatic, you mean that they’re hard to figure out—the reasons behind what they say and do are not easily understood. Some people try to be enigmatic to be mysterious.
Example: I’ve known him for years, but he’s completely enigmatic—I have no idea what his interests are or what he’s really like.
Where does enigmatic come from?
The first records of the word enigmatic come from the 1620s. It ultimately comes from the Greek ainíssesthai, meaning “to speak in riddles,” from ainos, meaning “fable” or “story.”
An enigmatic person’s personality is like a riddle. So is pretty much anything described as enigmatic—like an enigmatic film or an enigmatic statement. There may be a meaning or understandable pattern to it, but it’s not obvious. Sometimes, things described as enigmatic are that way on purpose, probably to add a sense of mystery or intrigue. Other times, things described as enigmatic are just naturally confusing.
Did you know ... ?
What are some other forms related to enigmatic?
- enigmatically (adverb)
- enigmatical (adjective)
- enigma (noun)
What are some synonyms for enigmatic?
What are some words that share a root or word element with enigmatic?
What are some words that often get used in discussing enigmatic?
How is enigmatic used in real life?
When a situation or problem is described as enigmatic, it’s one that’s confusing or difficult to understand, like a riddle. When a person is described as enigmatic, it usually means that they’re hard to know.
I've just realised: a completely enigmatic narrator can disguise or justify all manner of authorial flaws.
Booker Prize, here I come.
— Jeffrey Boakye (@jeffreykboakye) May 4, 2013
Oh, german. Nearly understandable (to an English speaker) when spoken, completely enigmatic when written.
— Mimizu (@Dr_mimizu) March 28, 2010
Bernard Haitink: The Enigmatic Maestro, review: farewell to a true great https://t.co/vXQfvpLsN0
— Telegraph TV & Radio (@TeleTVRadio) September 26, 2020
Try using enigmatic!
Which of the following words is NOT a synonym of enigmatic?
A. mysterious
B. inscrutable
C. puzzling
D. clear
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