enigma

[ uh-nig-muh ]

noun

, plural e·nig·mas; Chiefly Archaic e·nig·ma·ta [uh, -, nig, -m, uh, -t, uh].

1. a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence or situation:

   His disappearance is an enigma that has given rise to much speculation.

   Synonyms: problem

2. a person of puzzling or contradictory character:

   To me he has always been an enigma, one minute completely insensitive, the next moved to tears.

3. a saying, question, picture, etc., containing a hidden meaning; riddle.
4. (initial capital letter) a German-built enciphering machine developed for commercial use in the early 1920s and later adapted and appropriated by German and other Axis powers for military use through World War II.

enigma

/ ˌɛnɪɡˈmætɪk; ɪˈnɪɡmə /

noun

1. a person, thing, or situation that is mysterious, puzzling, or ambiguous

Derived Forms

• ˌenigˈmatically, adverb
• enigmatic, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of enigma¹

First recorded in 1530–40; from Latin aenigma, from Greek aínigma, equivalent to ainik- (stem of ainíssesthai “to speak in riddles,” derivative of aînos fable) + -ma noun suffix of result

Word History and Origins

Origin of enigma¹

C16: from Latin aenigma, from Greek ainigma, from ainissesthai to speak in riddles, from ainos fable, story

Synonym Study

See puzzle.

Example Sentences

Despite being a significant portion and growing force on the internet for over a decade now Gen Z remains an enigma for many media companies and brands.

From Digiday

To Varki, glycans are still one of the greatest enigmas of the biological universe.

From Quanta Magazine

As a man, Malcolm X was an enigma, transforming himself multiple times in his short life.

From Essence.com

Even as he ascends to the top of China’s billionaire class, Zhong remains an enigma.

From Fortune

Box has always been a bit of an enigma for Wall Street, and perhaps for enterprise software in general.

From TechCrunch

As great as this feat was, an equally demanding test followed: to conceal from the Nazis that Enigma had been beaten.

From The Daily Beast

Madame Cézanne is ultimately about the figure in the portraits rather than the person, who remains a tantalizing enigma.

From The Daily Beast

He was a paragon of masculinity—a tall, dark, and impossibly handsome enigma.

From The Daily Beast

The name is "an enigma even to me," Taylor says -- an appropriately mysterious moniker to make spiritual music under.

From The Daily Beast

Lil B is a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a song about Ellen Degeneres.

From The Daily Beast

To Lucy Warrender, who now heard of the matter for the first time, these initials were no enigma.

From Project Gutenberg

He tells me that La Fayette has fled; but when, where, or for what purpose, is all equally an enigma.

From Project Gutenberg

Aristide looked mournfully over the rain-swept common through the leaded panes, and speculated on the enigma of woman.

From Project Gutenberg

The Man in the Iron Mask is an enigma which each one attempts to solve.

From Project Gutenberg

“You tempt one to enquire the length of the reign of a satisfactory enigma,” cried Lady Engleton.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• conundrum
• puzzle

More About Enigma

What does enigma mean?

An enigma is 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 an enigma—I have no idea what it’s really about. 

If you call a person an enigma, 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 enigmas to be mysterious.

The adjective enigmatic can be used to describe someone or something that’s puzzling or mysterious.

Example: I’ve known him for years, but he’s still a total enigma to me—I have no idea what his interests are or what he’s really like.

Where does enigma come from?

The first records of the word enigma come from the 1500s. It comes from the Greek ainíssesthai, meaning “to speak in riddles,” from ainos, meaning “fable” or “story.”

A much more specific use of the word is as the name of a ciphering machine used by the German military during World War II. A precursor to computer encryption, the Enigma machine was used to encode messages into a seemingly random string of letters to be decoded by another Enigma machine set up the same way. The deciphering of the Enigma code by Alan Turing and a team of codebreakers allowed the Allies to secretly read intercepted German messages and is thought to be a major factor in the Allied victory.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to enigma?

• enigmatic (adjective)

What are some synonyms for enigma?

• riddle
• cipher
• puzzle
• conundrum

What are some words that share a root or word element with enigma? 

• enigmatize

What are some words that often get used in discussing enigma?

• perplexing
• puzzling
• mysterious
• machine
• code
• inscrutable
• strange
• problem

How is enigma used in real life?

When a situation or problem is called an enigma, it’s one that’s confusing or difficult to understand, like a riddle. When a person is called an enigma, it usually means that they’re hard to know.

Human history is quite an enigma. We know so little, and much of what we think we know seems to be highly questionable.

— occultbot (@occultb0t) June 11, 2020

Diego Costa is an enigma. Looks 50, acts 15, is actually 26.

— Futhead (@Futhead) September 19, 2015

Mastering a #CV can be quite an enigma & these are some mistakes you're probably making! #jobhunting #career #advice https://t.co/MFjnGHZdbC pic.twitter.com/3bdJ95uASn

— James Caan CBE (@jamescaan) October 17, 2016

 

Try using enigma!

Which of the following words is NOT a synonym of enigma?

A. cipher
B. answer
C. puzzle
D. riddle