What's the difference between mystery and mystify?
Mystery
Definition:
(a.) A profound secret; something wholly unknown, or something kept cautiously concealed, and therefore exciting curiosity or wonder; something which has not been or can not be explained; hence, specifically, that which is beyond human comprehension.
(a.) A kind of secret religious celebration, to which none were admitted except those who had been initiated by certain preparatory ceremonies; -- usually plural; as, the Eleusinian mysteries.
(a.) The consecrated elements in the eucharist.
(a.) Anything artfully made difficult; an enigma.
(n.) A trade; a handicraft; hence, any business with which one is usually occupied.
(n.) A dramatic representation of a Scriptural subject, often some event in the life of Christ; a dramatic composition of this character; as, the Chester Mysteries, consisting of dramas acted by various craft associations in that city in the early part of the 14th century.
Example Sentences:
(1) Ofcom will conduct research, such as mystery shopping, to assess the transparency of contractual information given to customers by providers at the point of sale".
(2) Totò was a legend in the Vesuvian city – a comedian of genius; poignant, mysterious.
(3) And that ancient Basque cultural gem – the mysterious language with its odd Xs, Ks and Ts – will be honoured at every turn in a city where it was forbidden by Franco.
(4) The etiology of the panvasculitis still remains a mystery.
(5) Meeting after meeting during 2011 to try to hammer out agreements about the basic shape of the Egyptian constitution – meetings that always mysteriously collapsed.
(6) Director Gareth Edwards , who made Godzilla, introduced a tantalizing concept reel to preview the mysterious film, which is part of a series of films exploring other stories outside of the core Star Wars saga.
(7) In EastEnders , the mystery surrounding the identity of Kat's secret squeeze continues amid the grinding of narrative levers and the death rattle of overflogged script-horses.
(8) The exact purpose of the complex is a mystery, though it is clearly ancient.
(9) Of course, the great British countryside was never as twee as that – a point made forcibly by the second album from mysterious electronic collective Hacker Farm .
(10) Askap will also help astronomers investigate one of the greatest mysteries of the universe: dark energy.
(11) Dickens's last completed novel, Our Mutual Friend , has a mysterious hero, John Rokesmith, who turns out to be someone different from the person we were told he was.
(12) Where once Gaga was mysterious and her music unavoidable, the mystique has evaporated and the music easy to miss.
(13) "How these union bosses get elected, how they raise money, how they disperse money is a complete and utter mystery.
(14) Despite extensive research, the aetiology of this infectious disease which affects mainly infants and young children remains mysterious.
(15) Death in utero (or immediately following birth) of children of diabetic mothers remains rather mysterious.
(16) Now trapped in an occupied city, she takes on a job as a housekeeper to mysterious bachelor Gabriel Ortega.
(17) In response to a question from the host, Jake Tapper, about allegations that the Russian ambassador “is a spy”, Rubio said: “It is not a mystery to anyone that virtually every embassy in Washington DC has some intelligence component associated with it.” Fact check: what did Trump's tweets about Obama's 'wiretaps' mean?
(18) Since then, his whereabouts have been a mystery, but this week his brother told Associated Press that he had received new and disturbing information from one of the policemen who took Gao away.
(19) Yet elsewhere in Syria, the strikes against Isis opened what US officials indicate as an opportunity to strike a mysterious al-Qaida cell in Syria believed to have been in the advanced stages for bomb attacks against US or western targets.
(20) How Balls achieves his £1.2bn from a mansion tax is a mystery.
Mystify
Definition:
(v. t.) To involve in mystery; to make obscure or difficult to understand; as, to mystify a passage of Scripture.
(v. t.) To perplex the mind of; to puzzle; to impose upon the credulity of ; as, to mystify an opponent.
Example Sentences:
(1) The form of address for British surgeons--"Mister" instead of "Doctor"--has mystified other members of the medical profession for years.
(2) His spokesman said that the producer was "mystified" by the police's investigation.
(3) Medicine is being de-mystified and individuals and communities are encouraged to take over responsibility for their own health.
(4) All of these insults to the Apple brand might have been borne, maybe, until the biggest insult of all came: a steady and otherwise mystifying drop in Apple's stock price.
(5) Complicated and mystifying as the snake envenomation process may appear, the toxic principles of snake venoms are biochemical entities that could be isolated, purified and characterized.
(6) This week we went in search of some of the most extreme prices – ultra-high and ultra-low – which highlight the mystifying nature of rail pricing in Britain.
(7) Everybody I spoke to said this, in a sort of mystified way: wasn't it different when we were kids?
(8) "I would argue to make the case that somehow we are in the dark is mystifying to me," Rogers says.
(9) His memoir The Discomfort Zone describes his older brother Tom leaving home after a row with his father: mystified and ashamed, the Franzen family "quarantined itself and suffered by itself", much as the Berglunds do after Joey moves out.
(10) Those who don't suffer from them find them mystifying; childish, even.
(11) It would be fair to say that the Spanish are shocked and mystified by the Brexit decision – and offended.
(12) Every pub draws the audience it deserves, and Bar Fringe's crowd is an unlikely mix of hairy bikers, bohemian folk, gnarled beer-tickers and brainy students, who leave mystifying, maths-related graffiti in the toilets.
(13) The government’s attitude to the BBC rather mystifies me,” Bryant told MPs.
(14) Stoke went into the contest on a three-match winning run in the Premier League and their manager, Mark Hughes, admitted he had been left mystified by the performance his players produced on his 100th game in charge at the club.
(15) Very rarely in my experience do the banks capitulate and reverse their decisions, however mystifying.
(16) Now there's a sense of shock, everyone's mystified and almost in a state of dread."
(17) Wenger admitted afterwards that he was mystified why they had left only one defender at the back and it was the same again shortly afterwards when Ángel Di Maria burst free only to try something similar and chip wide.
(18) You must hope we parents are so mystified by this that we’ll think it represents “rigour”.
(19) Paul Pogba fails to justify £100m price tag but does enough against Germany | Barney Ronay Read more Joachim Löw’s post-match demeanour betrayed a man mystified by elimination, particularly given the dominance his team had enjoyed throughout virtually the entirety of the first half.
(20) "What mystifies me is that Murdoch's attack on the Times can in the short term only hurt both papers by costing them both a great deal.