mystic

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mystic

pertaining to esoteric, otherworldly, or occult practices; a person who claims to have insight into mysteries not understood by ordinary people

Not to be confused with:

mystique – someone or something that has an aura of mystery or mystical power

mys·tic

(mĭs′tĭk)

adj.

a. Of or relating to mysticism or mystics: mystic doctrines.

b. Deeply or mysteriously spiritual; mystical: mystic experiences.

c. Of or relating to religious mysteries or occult rites and practices.

2. Inspiring a sense of mystery or wonder: a painting of a mystic landscape.

One who practices or believes in mysticism or a given form of mysticism: Protestant mystics.

[Middle English mystik, from Latin mysticus, from Greek mustikos, from mustēs, initiate; see mystery¹.]

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.

mystic

(ˈmɪstɪk)

(Alternative Belief Systems) a person who achieves mystical experience or an apprehension of divine mysteries

adj

another word for mystical

[C14: via Latin from Greek mustikos, from mustēs mystery initiate; related to muein to initiate into sacred rites]

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

mys•tic

(ˈmɪs tɪk)

adj.

1. characterized by esoteric, otherworldly, or symbolic practices or content, as certain religious ceremonies and art.

2. involving mysteries known only to the initiated.

3. of occult character or significance.

4. involving mystics or mysticism.

5. a person who claims insight into mysteries transcending ordinary human knowledge, as by direct communication with the divine or immediate intuition in a state of spiritual ecstasy.

6. a person initiated into religious mysteries.

[1275–1325; Middle English mystik < Latin mysticus < Greek mystikós, derivative of mýst(ēs) an initiate into the mysteries]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	mystic - someone who believes in the existence of realities beyond human comprehension religious mystic worshipper, believer, worshiper - a person who has religious faith quietist - a religious mystic who follows quietism
Adj.	1.	mystic - having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding; "mysterious symbols"; "the mystical style of Blake"; "occult lore"; "the secret learning of the ancients" mysterious, occult, orphic, mystical, secret esoteric - confined to and understandable by only an enlightened inner circle; "a compilation of esoteric philosophical theories"
	2.	mystic - relating to or resembling mysticism; "mystical intuition"; "mystical theories about the securities market" mystical
	3.	mystic - relating to or characteristic of mysticism; "mystical religion" mystical

mystic

mystical

adjective supernatural, mysterious, transcendental, spiritual, esoteric, occult, arcane, metaphysical, paranormal, inscrutable, otherworldly, abstruse, cabalistic, preternatural, nonrational mystic union with God

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

mystic

adjective

Difficult to explain or understand:

arcane, cabalistic, cryptic, enigmatic, mysterious, mystical, mystifying, occult, puzzling.

Translations

mystique

mistico

mystic

[ˈmɪstɪk]

A. ADJ → místico

B. N → místico/a m/f

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

mystic

[ˈmɪstɪk]

n → mystique m/f

adj (= mystical) → mystique

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

mystic

adj → mystisch; writing, words, beauty also → geheimnisvoll

n → Mystiker(in) m(f)

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

mystic

[ˈmɪstɪk] adj & n → mistico/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

References in classic literature ?

Morley has dwelt strongly on the circumstance of Wordsworth's remarkable personal happiness, as having had much to do with the physiognomy of his poetic creation--a calm, irresistible, well-being--almost mystic in character, and yet doubtless [93] connected with physical conditions.

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She opened her nostrils and inhaled with a mystic sensuousness; then she closed her lids.

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So Sir Bedivere told the King how truly this time he had cast away the sword, and how an arm "clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful," had caught it and drawn it under the mere.

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No mystic ever saw deeper meaning in common things.

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Poet and sportsman, mystic and man of this world, a great polo player, and the passionate lover of one beautiful woman whose ill-starred fate inspired Po Chu-i, the tenderest of all their singers,** Ming Huang is more to literature than to history.

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The moon was coming up, and its mystic shimmer was casting a million lights across the distant, restless water.

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Like those mystic rocks, too, the mystic-marked whale remains undecipherable.

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At midnight in the month of June, I stand beneath the mystic moon.

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At the bend of the Danube, vessels, an island, and a castle with a park surrounded by the waters of the confluence of the Enns and the Danube became visible, and the rocky left bank of the Danube covered with pine forests, with a mystic background of green treetops and bluish gorges.

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On an elevated seat, directly before the accused, sat the Grand Master of the Temple, in full and ample robes of flowing white, holding in his hand the mystic staff, which bore the symbol of the Order.

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Out of the high heaven is she summoned, from mystic communion with her own perfection, from majestic labours in the Sistine Chapel of the Stars,--yea, she must put aside her gold-leaf and purples and leave unfinished the very panels of the throne of God,--that Circe shall have her palace, and her worshippers their gilded sty.

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Such is the mystic voice which is always murmuring in his ears.

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