mystery-mongeringn.
/ˈmɪst(ə)rɪˌmʌŋɡ(ə)rɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈmɪst(ə)riˌmɑŋɡ(ə)rɪŋ/, /ˈmɪst(ə)riˌməŋɡ(ə)rɪŋ/ Chiefly derogatory.
The action or practice of cultivating or encouraging mystery; charlatanical mystification.
ΚΠ
1912 C. A. F. R. Davids Buddhism i. 20 There is no evidence..that this late recourse to writing was due to any mystery-mongering or esotericism.
1934 Mind 43 117 Those who are reluctant to regard philosophy as mere mystery-mongering or as an academic word-game.
1939 D. Thomas Let. 29 Sept. in Sel. Lett. (1966) 240 Censorship and conscription, mystery-mongering and umbrella-worship.
1984 Rev. in Amer. Hist. 12 318 His memory of a Catholic parade, an accurate detail that obliterates mystery-mongering about the hotel card at one stroke.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
mystery-mongeringadj.
/ˈmɪst(ə)rɪˌmʌŋɡ(ə)rɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈmɪst(ə)riˌmɑŋɡ(ə)rɪŋ/, /ˈmɪst(ə)riˌməŋɡ(ə)rɪŋ/ derogatory. rare.
That deals in or encourages mysteries or mystification.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > [adjective] > causing mystification
mystifyingc1827
mystificatory1830
mystery-mongering1901
mystific1990
1901 W. James Mem. & Stud. (1911) vii. 150 With all these things, infected by their previous mystery-mongering discoverers, even our best friends had rather avoid complicity.
1961 Jrnl. Philos. 58 458 Cross-type inferences..could conceivably bolster mystery-mongering metaphysics—and blunt the instruments of analysis.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1912adj.1901