enigma

UK: /ɪˈnɪgmə/ US: /əˈnɪgmə/ ,(ə nig′mə)

Inflections of 'enigma' (n):

enigmas

npl

enigmata

npl

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

e•nig•ma /əˈnɪgmə/   n. [countable] , pl. -mas. 

1. a puzzling event, situation, or person.
2. a riddle.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

e•nig•ma  (ə nig′mə), n., pl. -mas, -ma•ta 

(-mə tə). 
1. a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence or situation:
   His disappearance is an enigma that has given rise to much speculation.
2. a person of puzzling or contradictory character:
   To me he has always been an enigma, one minute completely insensitive, the next moved to tears.
3. a saying, question, picture, etc., containing a hidden meaning;
   riddle.
4. Military, Cryptography (cap.) a German-built enciphering machine developed for commercial use in the early 1920s and later adapted and appropriated by German and other Axis powers for military use through World War II.

• Greek aínigma, equivalent. to ainik- (stem of ainíssesthai to speak in riddles, derivative of aînos fable) + -ma noun, nominal suffix of result
• Latin aenigma
• 1530–40

Synonyms

• 1. problem. See puzzle. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

enigma / ɪˈnɪɡmə/ noun

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

Etymology: 16th Century: from Latin aenigma, from Greek ainigma, from ainissesthai to speak in riddles, from ainos fable, story

enigmatic / ˌɛnɪɡˈmætɪk/, ˌenigˈmatical adjective

ˌenigˈmatically adverb