cryptic

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The lower courts would assume they still had to follow that precedent until it was overruled, rather than guess what a cryptic shadow docket order meant.

From Slate • Jun. 1, 2026

But when Google sent him a cryptic, legalistic email in early 2020 notifying him that the police were demanding access to some of his data, he was alarmed.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 26, 2026

Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Adam Liptak have pinpointed a winter night in 2016 as the turning point, when the justices “issued a cryptic, one paragraph ruling” on Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan.

From Salon • Apr. 22, 2026

The result is an ode of sorts to elusive bossdom, where the cryptic may remain cryptic, decoded just enough to let us appreciate the achievement.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026

José Arcadio Segundo had managed, furthermore, to classify the cryptic letters of the parchments.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez