Adjacent Words

Enigma definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ENIG'MA, n. [L. oenigma; Gr. to hint.] A dark saying, in which some known thing is concealed under obscure language; an obscure question; a riddle. A question, saying or painting, containing a hidden meaning,which is proposed to be guessed.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained; "how it got out is a mystery"; "it remains one of nature's secrets" [syn: mystery, enigma, secret, closed book]
2: a difficult problem [syn: riddle, conundrum, enigma, brain-teaser]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Latin aenigma, from Greek ainigmat-, ainigma, from ainissesthai to speak in riddles, from ainos fable Date: 1539 1. an obscure speech or writing 2. something hard to understand or explain 3. an inscrutable or mysterious person Synonyms: see mystery

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a puzzling thing or person. 2 a riddle or paradox. Derivatives: enigmatic adj. enigmatical adj. enigmatically adv. enigmatize v.tr. (also -ise). Etymology: L aenigma f. Gk ainigma -matos f. ainissomai speak allusively f. ainos fable

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Enigma E*nig"ma, n.; pl. Enigmas. [L. aenigma, Gr. ?, fr. ? to speak darkly, fr. ? tale, fable.] 1. A dark, obscure, or inexplicable saying; a riddle; a statement, the hidden meaning of which is to be discovered or guessed. A custom was among the ancients of proposing an enigma at festivals. --Pope. 2. An action, mode of action, or thing, which cannot be satisfactorily explained; a puzzle; as, his conduct is an enigma.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(enigmas) If you describe something or someone as an enigma, you mean they are mysterious or difficult to understand. Iran remains an enigma for the outside world. = mystery N-COUNT: usu sing

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

e-nig'-ma.

See GAMES.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Riddle, puzzle, dark saying, obscure question.

Moby Thesaurus

Chinese puzzle, Gordian knot, arcanum, baffle, bafflement, baffling problem, bewilderment, bother, brain twister, cabala, classified information, confidence, confidential communication, confoundment, confusion, conundrum, crossword puzzle, crux, dark horse, dilemma, discomposure, disconcert, disconcertedness, disconcertion, disconcertment, disturbance, embarrassment, enigmatic question, esoterica, fix, floorer, frontier, frontiers of knowledge, guarded secret, hermetics, jam, jigsaw puzzle, knot, knotty point, matter of ignorance, mind-boggler, mystery, mystery of mysteries, mystification, n, node, nodus, nonplus, nut to crack, oxymoron, paradox, perplexed question, perplexity, personal matter, perturbation, pickle, plight, pons asinorum, poser, pother, predicament, private matter, privileged communication, privity, problem, profound secret, puzzle, puzzlement, puzzler, quandary, question, question mark, restricted information, riddle, scrape, sealed book, secret, sixty-four dollar question, stew, sticker, stumper, teaser, terra incognita, the incalculable, the occult, the strange, the unfamiliar, the unknowable, the unknown, tough proposition, unassuredness, unexplored ground, unexplored territory, unknown quantity, upset, vexed question, why, x, z