The Collaborative International Dictionary
Mystify \Mys"ti*fy\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mystified; p. pr. & vb. n. Mystifying.] [F. mystifier, fr. Gr. ? + L. -ficare (in comp.) to make. See 1st Mystery, and -fy.]
To involve in mystery; to make obscure or difficult to understand; as, to mystify a passage of Scripture.
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To perplex the mind of; to puzzle; to impose upon the credulity of; to baffle; as, to mystify an opponent.
He took undue advantage of his credulity and mystified him exceedingly.
--Ld. Campbell.
Wiktionary
unusual v
(present participle of mystify English)
WordNet
adj. of an obscure nature; "the new insurance policy is written without cryptic or mysterious terms"; "a deep dark secret"; "the inscrutible workings of Providence"; "in its mysterious past it encompasses all the dim origins of life"- Rachel Carson; "rituals totally mystifying to visitors from other lands" [syn: cryptic, cryptical, deep, inscrutable, mysterious]
Usage examples of "mystifying".
However, most mystifying of all was his thinking prior to the invasion of Kuwait.
Who knows why Saddam might want to do such a thing--to gain a better position to influence the Arab-Israeli dispute, to reassert his bid to Arab leadership, or for some other reason known only to himself--but his invasions of Kuwait and Iran were equally mystifying at the time.
Fine thing it would be to have all this mystifying and unusual stuff survive earthshake, eruption, and the centuries only to ignominiously drown.
Every time our gazes locked he would ask me some mystifying question to do with America.
They were all women and they all did the same mystifying thing: they acted surprised when it came time to pay.
Standing in the noisy station, watching her train pull out, I could not know that I was soon to hear from Holmes in a most mystifying way.
As mystifying as this decision was, Saddam went one better by refusing to withdraw from Kuwait even after the United States and its allies mustered a massive force of more than 700,000 troops, more than 3,500 tanks, and 1,700 aircraft in the Gulf region to retake Kuwait.
Who knows why Saddam might want to do such a thing—to gain a better position to influence the Arab-Israeli dispute, to reassert his bid to Arab leadership, or for some other reason known only to himself—but his invasions of Kuwait and Iran were equally mystifying at the time.
His office staff presently came in for its share of mystifying and alarming experiences and deserted him.