sibylline
/si'bilain/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Having a secret or hidden meaning; mysterious and difficult to understand: Describes something that is cryptic, obscure, or oracular, as if containing a hidden prophecy.
- Resembling or characteristic of a prophet or prophecy; prophetic: Describes utterances, writings, or a manner that is predictive, divinatory, or oracular in nature.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- The ancient text was filled with sibylline verses that scholars have debated for centuries.
- Her sibylline pronouncements about the future of the company left everyone uneasy and uncertain.
- The old hermit was known for his sibylline wisdom, speaking in riddles that few could decipher.
Advanced Usage
- "sibylline books": Refers specifically to the collection of oracular prophecies attributed to the Sibyls in ancient times, or more generally to any texts containing obscure prophetic sayings.
- The emperor consulted the sibylline books during the crisis, seeking guidance from the cryptic prophecies.
- "sibylline utterance": A statement that is deliberately ambiguous, mysterious, or prophetic.
- The CEO's announcement was a sibylline utterance, hinting at major changes without providing any details.
Variants and Related Words
- Sibyl (n): A prophetess in ancient times, most famously in Greek and Roman legend, who was believed to utter prophecies.
- The Sibyl of Cumae was one of the most famous oracles in the ancient world.
- Sibylline Oracles (n): A collection of prophetic utterances, often of Jewish or Christian origin, composed in imitation of the pagan Sibylline books.
Synonyms
- Cryptic: Having a meaning that is mysterious or obscure.
- Oracular: Resembling an oracle; prophetic or enigmatic.
- Prophetic: Accurately predicting what will happen in the future.
- Mantic: Relating to or characteristic of divination or prophecy.
Related Phrases
- To speak in sibylline tones: To talk in a mysterious, prophetic, or deliberately obscure manner.
- The mystic spoke in sibylline tones, leaving her followers to interpret her words.
Related Idioms
- As cryptic as a sibylline leaf: An idiom emphasizing extreme obscurity or mysteriousness, alluding to the fragmentary and cryptic nature of the ancient Sibylline prophecies.
- His instructions were as cryptic as a sibylline leaf; no one knew what he actually wanted us to do.
Adjective
- having a secret or hidden meaning
- cabalistic symbols engraved in stone
- cryptic writings
- thoroughly sibylline in most of his pronouncements- John Gunther
- resembling or characteristic of a prophet or prophecy
- the high priest's divinatory pronouncement
- mantic powers
- a kind of sibylline book with ready and infallible answers to questions