mystery
noun
Simple meaning
A secret religious celebration, admission to which was usually through initiation.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
mistereeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmɪstɚi
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
chiefly in the plural
A secret religious celebration, admission to which was usually through initiation.
Something secret or unexplainable; an unknown.
An account, story, book, film, or play, often with the theme of crime or murder, with a surprise ending that explains all the strange events that have occurred.
Someone or something with an obscure or puzzling nature.
A religious truth not understandable by the application of human reason alone (without divine aid).
A story about a crime (usually murder) presented as a novel or play or movie
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A secret religious celebration, admission to which was usually through initiation.
Used this way, mystery is a reasonably familiar word with a mildly favourable edge. This is a religious use: it carries the weight of tradition and ceremony.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Positive and appreciative
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Religion/spirituality
- Historical writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use mystery
- “How it got out is a mystery.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Novel in which the reader is challenged to solve a puzzle before the detective explains it at the end.
A medieval play representing episodes from the life of Christ.
A story about a crime (usually murder) presented as a novel or play or movie.
A narrative about a murder and how the murderer is discovered.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.