mystique

English

Etymology

From French mystique (“a mystic”), from Latin mysticus. See also the doublet mystic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɪˈstiːk/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -iːk

Noun

mystique (usually uncountable, plural mystiques)

1. An aura of heightened interest, meaning or mystery surrounding a person or thing.
   • 1960 December, “New reading on railways”, in Trains Illustrated, page 776:

     THE LONDON BRIGHTON & SOUTH COAST RAILWAY. By C. Hamilton Ellis. Ian Allan. 30s. [...] In an opening chapter entitled "Portrait", he ends by asking whether there was a mystique about the L.B. & S.C.

   • 1963, Betty Friedan, “The Mistaken Choice”, in The Feminine Mystique:

     The mystique spelled out a choice—love, home, children, or other goals and purposes in life. […] The baby boom of the immediate postwar years took place in every country. But it was not permeated, in most other countries, with the mystique of feminine fulfillment.

   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 134:

     Through male bonding, the subculture of the hunt caught up in the mystique of the chase, the hunting party became a military force, and men discovered that they need not stop at defense: they could go out to hunt for other people's wealth.

Further reading

• mystique on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “mystique”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• “mystique”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin mysticus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mis.tik/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

mystique f (plural mystiques)

1. mystic, one who practices mysticism

Adjective

mystique (plural mystiques)

1. mystic, mystical

Further reading

• “mystique”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.