mysterious

adjective

mys·​te·​ri·​ous mi-ˈstir-ē-əs How to pronounce mysterious (audio)
1
a
: of, relating to, or constituting mystery
the mysterious ways of God
b
: exciting wonder, curiosity, or surprise while baffling efforts to comprehend or identify : mystifying
heard a mysterious noise
a mysterious stranger
a mysterious plane crash
a mysterious illness
2
: stirred by or attracted to the inexplicable
… to help a mysterious wizard … ward off the end of the world with blood sacrifices.Robert Houston
mysteriousness noun

Examples of mysterious in a Sentence

the mysterious ways of nature We heard a mysterious noise outside our tent. He died under mysterious circumstances. A mysterious illness has been spreading through the city. There's something mysterious about that old woman. Her behavior was very mysterious.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The film, which sees Ash and his traveling companions Misty and Brock go to a mysterious island where they’re caught up in the ultrastrong legendary Pokémon Mewtwo’s revenge plot against the cruel world that created him, was a high-water mark for Pokémon. James Grebey, Vulture, 9 Nov. 2024 The deer, knowing by some mysterious means that his would-be slayer is a novice, stands still, looking with amusement at buck fever’s latest victim. Jack O’Connor, Outdoor Life, 6 Nov. 2024 Photograph: NurPhoto/Getty Images For much of this summer, a mysterious group of hackers carried out a landmark spree of major data breaches, all targeting customers of the cloud data storage company Snowflake. Matt Burgess, WIRED, 5 Nov. 2024 The most mysterious song on the internet, which thousands of devoted sleuths have been trying to identify since 2007, finally has a name. Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 5 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for mysterious 

Word History

Etymology

mystery entry 1 + -ous, probably after Middle French mysterieux

First Known Use

1578, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of mysterious was in 1578

Dictionary Entries Near mysterious

Cite this Entry

“Mysterious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mysterious. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

mysterious

adjective
mys·​te·​ri·​ous mis-ˈtir-ē-əs How to pronounce mysterious (audio)
: containing, suggesting, or presenting a mystery
mysterious noises
also : difficult or impossible to understand
the mysterious ways of nature
mysteriously adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on mysterious

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