MYSTERY

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained

Example:

it remains one of nature's secrets

Synonyms:

closed book; enigma; mystery; secret

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("mystery" is a kind of...):

perplexity (trouble or confusion resulting from complexity)

Derivation:

mysterious (having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding)

mysterious (of an obscure nature)

mystify (make mysterious)

mystify (be a mystery or bewildering to)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A story about a crime (usually murder) presented as a novel or play or movie

Synonyms:

mystery; mystery story; whodunit

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("mystery" is a kind of...):

story (a piece of fiction that narrates a chain of related events)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mystery"):

detective story (a narrative about someone who investigates crimes and obtains evidence leading to their resolution)

murder mystery (a narrative about a murder and how the murderer is discovered)

Credits

Context examples:

The mysteries of storm, and rain, and tide were revealed, and the reason for the existence of trade-winds made him wonder whether he had written his article on the northeast trade too soon.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

‘At least,’ said I, ‘it gives us another mystery, and one which is even more interesting than the first.’

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There are always mysteries in life.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

But the path began nowhere and ended nowhere, and it remained mystery, as the man who made it and the reason he made it remained mystery.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

As common as hot Jupiters are now known to be, they are still shrouded in mystery.

(Investigating the Mystery of Migrating 'Hot Jupiters', NASA)

Researchers had proposed several theories for how viperin exerts its anti-viral effects, but precisely how it acted was a mystery.

(Scientists Discover How Antiviral Gene Works, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

"You have no right to preach to me, you neophyte, that have not passed the porch of life, and are absolutely unacquainted with its mysteries."

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

But suppose it were so, we are still as far as ever from unravelling the mystery of his death.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

No one can withstand the charm of such a mystery.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

"We have never seen anything like 'Oumuamua in our solar system. It’s really a mystery still," said Knight.