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sphinxlike. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
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English
Etymology
From sphinx + -like.
Adjective
sphinxlike (comparative more sphinxlike, superlative most sphinxlike)
- Like a sphinx, or like that of a sphinx, especially, not showing passion or emotion; inscrutable.
1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 57:What about Mrs. Cavendish? I watched her as she sat at the head of the table, graceful, composed, enigmatic. In her soft grey frock, with white ruffles at the wrists falling over her slender hands, she looked very beautiful. When she chose, however, her face could be sphinx-like in its inscrutability.
2020 August 4, Richard Conniff, “They may look goofy, but ostriches are nobody’s fool”, in National Geographic Magazine:they get together in the dry riverbed. He writhes over her for a minute or two as she sits sphinxlike, dignified, head straight in the air.
- Mysterious; scheming; having a deceptive outward appearance.
1889, Rudyard Kipling, “The Education of Otis Yeere”, in Under the Deodars, Boston: The Greenock Press, published 1899, page 21:Mrs. Mallowe smiled in a superior and Sphinx-like fashion.
2025 March 7, Mark Leibovich, “Mitch McConnell and the President He Calls ‘Despicable’”, in The Atlantic:“What we need to avoid at the end is a headline that says ‘Russia Won, America Lost.’” A sphinxlike response. Or perhaps a nonresponse.