sphinxlike

English

Alternative forms

  • sphinx-like

Etymology

From sphinx +‎ -like.

Adjective

sphinxlike (comparative more sphinxlike, superlative most sphinxlike)

  1. 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[1]:
      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.
  2. 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[2]:
      “What we need to avoid at the end is a headline that says ‘Russia Won, America Lost.’” A sphinxlike response. Or perhaps a nonresponse.
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.