Delphic
adjective
Did you know?
Delphi in Greece was the site of a temple to Apollo at which there resided an oracle, a woman through whom Apollo would speak, foretelling the future. The Greeks consulted the oracle frequently on matters both private and public. The prophecies were given in difficult poetry that had to be interpreted by priests, and even the interpretations could be hard to understand. When Croesus, king of Lydia, asked what would happen if he attacked the Persians, the oracle announced that he would destroy a great empire; what she didn't say was that the empire destroyed would be his own. Modern-day descendants of the oracle include some political commentators, who utter words of delphic complexity every week.
Synonyms
- ambiguous
- arcane
- cryptic
- dark
- deep
- double-edged
- elliptical
- elliptic
- enigmatic
- enigmatical
- equivocal
- fuliginous
- inscrutable
- murky
- mysterious
- mystic
- nebulous
- obscure
- occult
- opaque
Example Sentences
Word History
1567, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Delphic
adjective
Synonyms & Similar Words
- ambiguous
- cryptic
- mystic
- obscure
- enigmatic
- dark
- enigmatical
- mysterious
- esoteric
- vague
- inscrutable
- murky
- unclear
- arcane
- occult
- nebulous
- equivocal
- opaque
- questionable
- uncertain
- fuliginous
- elliptical
- obscurant
- deep
- elliptic
- uncanny
- abstruse
- recondite
- confusing
- eerie
- double-edged
- shadowy
- hazy
- weird
- fuzzy
- indistinct
- complicated
- inexact
- indirect
- foggy
- incomprehensible
- noncommittal
- beclouded
- clouded
- difficult
- misty
- shrouded
- sphinxlike
- cloaked
- concealed
- faint
- disguised
- puzzling
- indefinite
- inexplicable
- indecipherable
- unknowable
- inexplicit
- complex
- befogged
- obfuscatory
- eery
- baffling
- unanswerable
- bewildering
- shaded
- invisible
- masked
- cloudy
- dim
- impenetrable
- mystifying
- undefined
- muddy
- confounding
- indistinguishable
- perplexing
- obtuse
- intangible
- undetermined
- obscurantic
- bedimmed
- unfathomable
- circuitous
- impalpable
- shadowlike
- inappreciable
- roundabout
- obnubilated
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- obvious
- unequivocal
- unambiguous
- intelligible
- clear
- plain
- certain
- distinct
- comprehensible
- understandable
- knowable
- bright
- evident
- strong
- legible
- accessible
- pellucid
- firm
- sure
- nonambiguous
- explicit
- direct
- defined
- exact
- definite
- self-evident
- straightforward
- fathomable
- self-explanatory
- determined
- tangible
- unmistakable
- visible
- blatant
- palpable
- appreciable
- patent