adjective
- Of an obscure nature.
- usage: "the new insurance policy is written without cryptic or mysterious terms"; "a deep dark secret"; "the inscrutable workings of Providence"; "in its mysterious past it encompasses all the dim origins of life- Rachel Carson; "rituals totally mystifying to visitors from other lands"
- synonyms: cryptical, deep, inscrutable, mysterious, mystifying
- Having a secret or hidden meaning."cabalistic symbols engraved in stone"; "cryptic writings"; "thoroughly sibylline in most of his pronouncements- John Gunther
- synonyms: cabalistic, kabbalistic, qabalistic, cryptical, sibylline
- Having a puzzling terseness.
- usage: "a cryptic note"
WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
| APA | WordNet. (2010). cryptic. Retrieved September 22, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/cryptic/definitions/1171734 |
| Chicago | WordNet. 2010. "cryptic" http://smartdefine.org/cryptic/definitions/1171734 (accessed September 22, 2026). |
| Harvard | WordNet 2010, cryptic, Smart Define, viewed 22 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/cryptic/definitions/1171734>. |
| MLA | WordNet. "cryptic" 23 October 2010. Web. 22 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/cryptic/definitions/1171734> |