What does mystify mean?
Word: Mystify
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Mystify means to puzzle someone completely, so that they cannot understand or explain something.
Synonyms: puzzle, baffle, bewilder, perplex
Antonyms: explain, enlighten
How do you spell mystify?
Syllables: mys - ti - fy
Tricky part: The first vowel is y, not i, because the word is built on mystery.
Watch out for: mistify, mystiphy
Memory tip: A mystery can mystify you, and the two words share the same y.
Mystify in a sentence
Example 1: Long division used to mystify me until my sister explained it.
Example 2: How the cat got onto the roof will mystify us forever.
Example 3: The strange lights in the night sky mystified the villagers.
Fun Fact
English borrowed mystify from French in the early 1800s; the French word was built on the word for mystery.
Practise the CREST Way
Spellacadabra
Choose the correct option to make a meaningful word:
myst__fy
a) e
b) y
c) i
d) a
Show answer
c) i. An i comes before fy, as in magnify and simplify.
Jumble Tumble
What is the meaning of the word that can be formed from the given letters?
fytsmiy
a) to leave someone unable to work out what is going on
b) to make something clean and pure
c) to make something look bigger than it is
d) to show that something is true
Show answer
a) to leave someone unable to work out what is going on. Unscrambled, fytsmiy gives mystify; magnify, purify and verify do not use these letters.
Word Puzzle
Match the words in the two lists:
1. mystify 2. expand 3. scatter a. shrink b. gather c. clarify
a) 1-a, 2-b, 3-c
b) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c
c) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b
d) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a
Show answer
c) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b. To clarify is the opposite of to mystify, just as shrink undoes expand and gather undoes scatter.
Word Champ
Choose the correct word for the blank:
The twist at the end of the detective story was written to ___ every reader until the very last page.
a) verify
b) magnify
c) simplify
d) mystify
Show answer
d) mystify. Magnify, verify and simplify do not mean leaving someone puzzled.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. If a riddle mystifies you, you ____.
a) cannot work out the answer
b) tell it to a friend
c) solve it in a second
d) write it in your notebook
Show answer
a) cannot work out the answer
2. A card trick that mystifies the audience leaves them ____.
a) sure of how it was done
b) cross with the magician
c) bored and sleepy
d) wondering how it was done
Show answer
d) wondering how it was done
