Definify.com
Webster 1828 Edition
Cryptic
CRYPTIC
, CRYPTICAL,Adj.
Definition 2024
cryptic
cryptic
English
Alternative forms
- cryptick (obsolete)
Adjective
cryptic (comparative more cryptic, superlative most cryptic)
- Having hidden meaning.
- Mystified or of an obscure nature.
- Glanvill
- Her [nature's] more cryptic ways of working.
- Glanvill
- Involving use of code or cipher/cypher.
- (zoology) Well camouflaged; having good camouflage.
- Lonomia caterpillars are extremely cryptic.
Translations
mystified or of an obscure nature
involving use of code or cipher
Noun
cryptic (plural cryptics)
- (informal) A cryptic crossword.
- 1996, Mary McCarthy, Remember Me (page 85)
- He settled down to the cryptic in the Independent. He loved his crossword. It kept him mentally active, just as gossip did his wife.
- 2009, Bill Taylor, Building a crossword (in Toronto Star, 1 February 2009)
- This writer has been solving cryptics for 40 years and can usually crack Araucaria, though it might take a couple of days.
- 1996, Mary McCarthy, Remember Me (page 85)