decrypt
verb
de·crypt (ˌ)dē-ˈkript 
decrypted; decrypting; decrypts
transitive verb
: decode sense 1a
decryption
(ˌ)dē-ˈkrip-shən
noun 
Synonyms
- break
- crack
- decipher
- decode
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
decrypting the Germans' code was one of the Allies' greatest triumphs
Recent Examples on the Web In 2017, the village of Nashotah paid $2,000 ransom to an unknown attacker to decrypt its computer system after a hack that left some residents' personal information exposed. 
Beck Andrew Salgado, Journal Sentinel, 9 Sep. 2022 Soon Europe was also gripped by an academic frenzy — both collaborative and competitive — to decrypt the Rosetta Stone. Mary Winston Nicklin, Washington Post, 1 July 2022 Even if the data is encrypted, bad actors can store the data and decrypt it at a later time or hold it for ransom. John Prisco, Forbes, 4 May 2022 Deadbolt offered to provide a master key that would decrypt all victims’ files for a much steeper 50 bitcoin, or roughly $1.8 million. Lee Mathews, Forbes, 28 Jan. 2022 Security researchers like Guerrero-Saade and Callow point out that hackers who create their own custom ransomware—as the Cyber Partisans claim to have done in this case—often make mistakes that allow their targets to decrypt their systems. Andy Greenberg, Wired, 25 Jan. 2022 Those responsible for introducing the software demand a ransom to unlock or decrypt the files. Alex Mann, baltimoresun.com, 23 Dec. 2021 Europol claimed the keys had helped more than 1,400 companies decrypt their networks, saving them almost $550 million in potential losses. Thomas Brewster, Forbes, 8 Nov. 2021 This has long been a challenge for researchers because the digital code used to encrypt a photograph has to be the same one used to decrypt it. Harini Barath, Scientific American, 16 Sep. 2021 See More
Beck Andrew Salgado, Journal Sentinel, 9 Sep. 2022 Soon Europe was also gripped by an academic frenzy — both collaborative and competitive — to decrypt the Rosetta Stone. Mary Winston Nicklin, Washington Post, 1 July 2022 Even if the data is encrypted, bad actors can store the data and decrypt it at a later time or hold it for ransom. John Prisco, Forbes, 4 May 2022 Deadbolt offered to provide a master key that would decrypt all victims’ files for a much steeper 50 bitcoin, or roughly $1.8 million. Lee Mathews, Forbes, 28 Jan. 2022 Security researchers like Guerrero-Saade and Callow point out that hackers who create their own custom ransomware—as the Cyber Partisans claim to have done in this case—often make mistakes that allow their targets to decrypt their systems. Andy Greenberg, Wired, 25 Jan. 2022 Those responsible for introducing the software demand a ransom to unlock or decrypt the files. Alex Mann, baltimoresun.com, 23 Dec. 2021 Europol claimed the keys had helped more than 1,400 companies decrypt their networks, saving them almost $550 million in potential losses. Thomas Brewster, Forbes, 8 Nov. 2021 This has long been a challenge for researchers because the digital code used to encrypt a photograph has to be the same one used to decrypt it. Harini Barath, Scientific American, 16 Sep. 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
de- + -crypt (in cryptanalysis, cryptogram), perhaps after decipher
First Known Use
1935, in the meaning defined above
decrypting
verb
as in deciphering
to change (as a secret message) from code into ordinary language decrypting the Germans' code was one of the Allies' greatest triumphs Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- deciphering
- decoding
- cracking
- translating
- breaking
- descrambling
- solving
- rendering
- unscrambling
- working
- unraveling
- figuring out
- working out
- unriddling
- doping (out)
- puzzling (out)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- encrypting
- encoding
- coding
- ciphering
- enciphering
- mixing (up)
- garbling
- jumbling (up)