mindmap root((神秘)) mysterious suggests a quality that excites wonder, curiosity, or surmise yet baffles attempts to explain it: couldn't account for the ~ noise upstairs. inscrutable applies to something that defies one's efforts to examine or investigate it or to interpret its significance or meaning: sat calmly with an ~ look on her face. arcane implies a quality that is beyond comprehension because known or knowable only to the possessor of a restricted body of knowledge: a book filled with spells and ~ lore.