Adjacent Words

mystify definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: be a mystery or bewildering to; "This beats me!"; "Got me-- I don't know the answer!"; "a vexing problem"; "This question really stuck me" [syn: perplex, vex, stick, get, puzzle, mystify, baffle, beat, pose, bewilder, flummox, stupefy, nonplus, gravel, amaze, dumbfound]
2: make mysterious; "mystify the story" [ant: demystify]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (-fied; -fying) Etymology: French mistifier, from mystère mystery, from Latin mysterium Date: 1814 1. to perplex the mind of ; bewilder 2. to make mysterious or obscure <mystify an interpretation of a prophecy> • mystifier noun • mystifyingly adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. (-ies, -ied) 1 bewilder, confuse. 2 hoax, take advantage of the credulity of. 3 wrap up in mystery. Derivatives: mystification n. Etymology: F mystifier (irreg. formed as MYSTIC or MYSTERY(1))

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Mystify Mys"ti*fy, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mystified; p. pr. & vb. n. Mystifying.] [F. mystifier, fr. Gr. ? + L. -ficare (in comp.) to make. See 1st Mystery, and -fy.] 1. To involve in mystery; to make obscure or difficult to understand; as, to mystify a passage of Scripture. 2. To perplex the mind of; to puzzle; to impose upon the credulity of; as, to mystify an opponent. He took undue advantage of his credulity and mystified him exceedingly. --Ld. Campbell.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(mystifies, mystifying, mystified) If you are mystified by something, you find it impossible to explain or understand. The audience must have been totally mystified by the plot... There was something strange in her attitude which mystified me. = baffle VERB: be V-ed, V n • mystifying I find your attitude a little mystifying, Moira. = puzzling ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. Perplex, puzzle, bewilder, embarrass, pose, befog, obfuscate.

Moby Thesaurus

addle, amaze, around the bush, baffle, bamboozle, beat, beat about, beg the question, bewilder, bicker, boggle, buffalo, cavil, choplogic, complicate, confound, confuse, corrupt, daze, dodge, equivocate, evade, evade the issue, fence, floor, flummox, fool, fuddle, garble, get, hedge, hoax, humbug, jumble, keep in suspense, lick, make unintelligible, maze, misadvise, misdirect, miseducate, misguide, misinform, misinstruct, mislead, misteach, mix up, muddle, nitpick, nonplus, obfuscate, obscure, palter, parry, perplex, pervert, pick nits, prevaricate, pussyfoot, puzzle, quibble, scramble, shadow, shift, shuffle, shy, sidestep, split hairs, stick, stump, tergiversate, throw