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Enigma comes from a Greek word that means "to speak in riddles." It applies to things, as well as to people, that puzzle one's mind. Egypt's ancient pyramids and quantum mechanics, for example, might be described as enigmas, as well as physicist Stephen Hawking. In these uses, the word's meaning is a figurative extension of the original "riddle" sense.
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Are you an enigma?
A person who is described as an enigma is a bit of a mystery. You never know what that person is really thinking, or what his or her motives for doing something are. An enigma is not easily understood especially because he or she has a confusing mixture of qualities that seem to be in opposition to one another—for example, the attention-seeking but reclusive musician, or the brilliant lawyer who gets lost on the drive home from the grocery store.
The word enigma originally referred not to people but to words, and specifically to words that formed a riddle or complicated metaphor that tested the listener's or reader's alertness and cleverness. This meaning is clearly connected to the word's history. Enigma comes from a Greek word that means "to speak in riddles."
The word enigma didn't jump from referring to riddles to referring to people. In between those uses, it was (and still is) applied to things that puzzle people. Egypt's meticulously constructed Pyramids of Giza or a theory of quantum physics, for example, might be described as enigmas. In these uses, the meaning is simply a figurative extension of the original "riddle" sense.
Synonyms
Examples of enigma in a Sentence
Tom Yulsman, Astronomy, September 1999
Many scholars call it the ultimate enigma of the Nazi era, indeed perhaps of modern history: How did the Holocaust happen? And why in Germany?
—Ralph Blumenthal, New York Times, 10 Jan. 1998
Indeed, the bond that in every individual connects the physiological life and the psychic life—or better the relation existing between the contingence of an individual and the free spirit that assumes it—is the deepest enigma implied in the condition of being human, and this enigma is presented in its most disturbing form in woman.
—Simone de Beauvoir, translated and edited by H. M. Parshley, The Second Sex, 1953
To his friends, he was always something of an enigma.
one of the great enigmas of our time
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 24 Nov. 2024
For a while in the series, the motive remains an enigma, as does Marsh.
—Sarah Larson, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2024
Her character, Lee, an enigma herself, seems only interested in Joaquin Phoenix’s character’s persona, Joker.
—Jonathan Van Meter, Vogue, 5 Sep. 2024
Their ancient privilege will be reduced to a life adapted to a luxurious hole, an underground universe full of enigmas where a wound from the past will explode between two conflicting families.
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 19 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for enigma 
Dictionary Entries Near enigma
Cite this Entry
“Enigma.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enigma. Accessed 24 Dec. 2024.
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enigma
noun
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