mysterious
adjective
mys·te·ri·ous
mi-ˈstir-ē-əs 
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
Robert Houston
mysteriousness
noun
Synonyms
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
As the show goes on, a more mysterious literary synchrony emerges: how wonderful that Eliot, in 1939, placed such an emphasis on the power of names known only to those who understand you, and on a thriving community’s reverence for its elders.
—Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 27 June 2024
Halt and Catch Fire The first season of this underrated AMC drama, centered primarily on mysterious entrepreneur Joe MacMillan (Lee Pace) and computer engineer Gordon Clark (Scoot McNairy), made for a solid period drama about the dawn of the personal computer revolution.
—Ben Rosenstock, TIME, 27 June 2024
The pilot-slash-hitman is calm, cool, and collected even while being questioned about mysterious marks of blood on his neck and shirt.
—Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 27 June 2024
This Mojave Desert yarn has it all: a seven-story rock, rumors of aliens, gentrification, Howard Hughes, conservation concerns and a mysterious prophecy.
—Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for mysterious 
Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 27 June 2024
Halt and Catch Fire The first season of this underrated AMC drama, centered primarily on mysterious entrepreneur Joe MacMillan (Lee Pace) and computer engineer Gordon Clark (Scoot McNairy), made for a solid period drama about the dawn of the personal computer revolution.
—Ben Rosenstock, TIME, 27 June 2024
The pilot-slash-hitman is calm, cool, and collected even while being questioned about mysterious marks of blood on his neck and shirt.
—Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 27 June 2024
This Mojave Desert yarn has it all: a seven-story rock, rumors of aliens, gentrification, Howard Hughes, conservation concerns and a mysterious prophecy.
—Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for mysterious
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mysterious.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near mysterious
Cite this Entry
“Mysterious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mysterious. Accessed 2 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
mysterious
adjective
mys·te·ri·ous
mis-ˈtir-ē-əs
: containing, suggesting, or presenting a mystery
mysterious noises
also
: difficult or impossible to understand
the mysterious ways of nature
mysteriously
adverb
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