CRYPTIC • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Cryptic

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/krˈɪptɪk/ Listen

adjective

Cryptical, Cryptic adj.

Hidden; secret; occult. "Her (nature's) more cryptic ways of working."

Incomprehensible to those not familiar with the culture or jargon; as, the new insurance policy is written without cryptic or mysterious terms.

Synonyms: inscrutable, mysterious, mystifying.

Having a secret or hidden meaning; as, cryptic symbols engraved in stone; cryptic writings.

Synonyms: cabalistic, occult, secret, sibylline.

Having a puzzling terseness; as, a cryptic note.

Not evident; unrecognized; as, a cryptic infection.

Written in a code or cipher; as, a cryptic message.

Synonyms: encoded, enciphered, encrypted.

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Etymology of 'Cryptic'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Cryptic" Quotes from Famous Books

... certain terms and figures which had been set down by Kitely had also been set down by Stoner. There were the initials—M. & C. There was a date—if it was a date—81. What in Kitely's memorandum the initials S. B. might mean, it was useless to guess at. His memorandum, indeed, was as cryptic as an Egyptian hieroglyph. But Stoner's memorandum was fuller, more explicit. The M. & C. of the Kitely entry had been expanded to Mallows and Chidforth. The entry "fraud" and the other entries "Wilchester Assizes" and the supplementary words, clearly implied ...

— The Borough Treasurer • Joseph Smith Fletcher

... venture to recommend the little copy of the Latin text with Conington's version attached, in "Bell's Pocket Classics." Latinless readers of course must read him in English or not at all. No translation can quite convey the cryptic charm of any original, whether poetry or prose. "Only a bishop," said Lord Chesterfield, "is improved by translation." But prose is far easier to render faithfully than verse; and I have said that ...

— Horace • William Tuckwell

... and the twins, their eyes bright with the unholy light of mischief, never looked at her. They sometimes looked heavenward with a sublime contentment that drove Connie nearly frantic. Occasionally they uttered cryptic words about the morrow,—and the older members of the family smiled pleasantly, but Connie shuddered. She remembered ...

— Prudence Says So • Ethel Hueston

... religious emotion. As for the aesthetic—I was at even greater pains to cultivate that. I have looked at all the right works of art in every part of Europe. There was a time when, I venture to believe, I knew more about Taddeo da Poggibonsi, more about the cryptic Amico di Taddeo, even than Henry does. To-day, I am happy to say, I have forgotten most of the knowledge I then so laboriously acquired; but without vanity I can assert that it was prodigious. I don't pretend, of course, ...

— Crome Yellow • Aldous Huxley

... least. Madame Tancredi was the exact opposite of her friend Milano in all save the kindly spirit of the true artist. She was stout and heavy, where Milano was swift and graceful; she was frankness itself where Milano was cryptic; and, finally, she was the owner of a very ...

— Miss Pat at Artemis Lodge • Pemberton Ginther

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