e·nig·ma

(ĭ-nĭg′mə)

n. pl. e·nig·mas also e·nig·ma·ta (-mə-tə)

1. One that is puzzling, ambiguous, or inexplicable.

2. A perplexing speech or text; a riddle.

[Latin aenigma, from Greek ainigma, from ainissesthai, ainig-, to speak in riddles, from ainos, fable.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

enigma

(ɪˈnɪɡmə)

a person, thing, or situation that is mysterious, puzzling, or ambiguous

[C16: from Latin aenigma, from Greek ainigma, from ainissesthai to speak in riddles, from ainos fable, story]

enigmatic, ˌenigˈmatical adj

ˌenigˈmatically adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

e•nig•ma

(əˈnɪg mə)

n., pl. -mas, -ma•ta (-mə tə)

1. a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence or situation.

2. a person of puzzling or contradictory character.

3. a saying, picture, etc., containing a hidden meaning; riddle.

[1530–40; < Latin aenigma < Greek aínigma <ainik- (s. of ainíssesthai to speak in riddles, derivative of aînos fable)]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	enigma - something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained; "how it got out is a mystery"; "it remains one of nature's secrets" closed book, mystery, secret perplexity - trouble or confusion resulting from complexity
	2.	enigma - a difficult problem brain-teaser, conundrum, riddle problem - a question raised for consideration or solution; "our homework consisted of ten problems to solve"

enigma

noun mystery, problem, puzzle, riddle, paradox, conundrum, teaser This country remains an enigma for the outside world.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

enigma

noun

Anything that arouses curiosity or perplexes because it is unexplained, inexplicable, or secret:

conundrum, mystery, perplexity, puzzle, puzzler, riddle.

Translations

لُغْز، أُحجِيَه

gådemysterium

Rätsel Änigma Mysterium

αίνιγμα

acertijo enigma

énigme puzzle

talány

gáta

enigma

mįslėmįslingai

mīklanoslēpums

gåte mysterium

gizem muamma

不可思议的东西谜

enigma

[ɪˈnɪgmə] N → enigma m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

enigma

[ɪˈnɪgmə] n (= mystery) → énigme f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

enigma

n → Rätsel nt

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

enigma

[ɪˈnɪgmə] n → enigma m

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

enigma

(iˈnigmə) noun

anything difficult to understand; a mystery.

enigmatic (enigˈmӕtik) adjective

puzzling; mysterious. an enigmatic smile.

ˌenigˈmatically adverb

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

While he groped at her feet it occurred to him that the woman there had in her hands an indispensable gift which nothing else on earth could give; and when he stood up he was penetrated by an irresistible belief in an enigma, by the conviction that within his reach and passing away from him was the very secret of existence--its certitude, immaterial and precious!

View in context

Levin tried to understand him, and could not understand him, and looked at him and his life as at a living enigma.

View in context

"Africa is, at length, about to surrender the secret of her vast solitudes; a modern OEdipus is to give us the key to that enigma which the learned men of sixty centuries have not been able to decipher.

View in context

I had perpetually to guard against the wonder of contemplation into which my initiated view betrayed me; to check the irrelevant gaze and discouraged sigh in which I constantly both attacked and renounced the enigma of what such a little gentleman could have done that deserved a penalty.

View in context

Then something--something strug- gling violently--was lifted high against the sky, a black, vague enigma against the starlight; and as this black object came down again, I saw by the green brightness that it was a man.

View in context

The whole history of the aboriginal population of this country, however, is an enigma, and a grand one - will it ever be solved?

View in context

Elation must have been in his heart, but his face did not reflect it: ever a dark and solitary enigma, he stood aloof from his followers in spirit as in substance.

View in context

'Plainly, madam, you come to me as an enigma, and you leave me to make the right guess by the unaided efforts of my art.

View in context

But my mind had been running on Grace Poole--that living enigma, that mystery of mysteries, as I considered her.

View in context

The baffling enigma of the Chinese character to the West was no baffling enigma to the Japanese.

View in context

Pearl's inevitable tendency to hover about the enigma of the scarlet letter seemed an innate quality of her being.

View in context

He walked the floor for half an hour puzzling over his enigma, then he hunted out the other glass plates.

View in context