"sphinxlike" meaning in English

See sphinxlike in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

Forms: more sphinxlike [comparative], most sphinxlike [superlative], sphinx-like [alternative]
Etymology: Etymology tree English sphinx Proto-Indo-European *leyg-der. Proto-Germanic *līkąder. Proto-Germanic *-līkaz Proto-West Germanic *-līk Old English -līċ Middle English -like English -like English sphinxlike From sphinx + -like. Etymology templates: {{ety|en|:af|sphinx|-like|text=+|tree=1}} Etymology tree English sphinx Proto-Indo-European *leyg-der. Proto-Germanic *līkąder. Proto-Germanic *-līkaz Proto-West Germanic *-līk Old English -līċ Middle English -like English -like English sphinxlike [Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from", "terms" : [ { "children" : [ { "keyword_abbrev" : "der.", "keyword_label" : "Derived from", "terms" : [ { "id" : "like", "children" : [ ], "status" : "ok", "lang_name" : "Proto-Indo-European", "term" : "*leyg-", "lang" : "ine-pro" } ], "keyword" : "derived" } ], "lang_name" : "Proto-Germanic", "term" : "*līką", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "gem-pro" } ], "keyword" : "derived" } ], "lang_name" : "Proto-Germanic", "term" : "*-līkaz", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "gem-pro" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "lang_name" : "Proto-West Germanic", "term" : "*-līk", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "gmw-pro" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "lang_name" : "Old English", "term" : "-līċ", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "ang" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "status" : "inline", "lang_name" : "Middle English", "term" : "-like", "lang" : "enm" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "lang_name" : "English", "term" : "-like", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "en" } ], "keyword_label" : "From", "is_group" : true, "keyword" : "affix" } ], "lang_name" : "English", "term" : "sphinxlike", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "en" }" data-lang="en" data-title="sphinxlike"> From sphinx + -like. Head templates: {{en-adj}} sphinxlike (comparative more sphinxlike, superlative most sphinxlike)
  1. Like a sphinx, or like that of a sphinx, especially, not showing passion or emotion; inscrutable.
    Sense id: en-sphinxlike-en-adj-d4ytVDJQ Categories (other): English entries referencing missing etymons, English entries with etymology texts, English entries with etymology trees, English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -like, Pages using etymon with no ID, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Pages with etymology trees Disambiguation of English entries referencing missing etymons: 74 26 Disambiguation of English entries with etymology texts: 73 27 Disambiguation of English entries with etymology trees: 73 27 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 84 16 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -like: 80 20 Disambiguation of Pages using etymon with no ID: 81 19 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 81 19 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 90 10 Disambiguation of Pages with etymology trees: 81 19
  2. Mysterious; scheming; having a deceptive outward appearance.
    Sense id: en-sphinxlike-en-adj-pwD1k6kH
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":af",
        "3": "sphinx",
        "4": "-like",
        "text": "+",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nEnglish sphinx\nProto-Indo-European *leyg-der.\nProto-Germanic *līkąder.\nProto-Germanic *-līkaz\nProto-West Germanic *-līk\nOld English -līċ\nMiddle English -like\nEnglish -like\nEnglish sphinxlike\n[Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"der.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Derived from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"like\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*leyg-\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*līką\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-līkaz\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-līk\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"-līċ\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"-like\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"-like\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"sphinxlike\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"sphinxlike\">\nFrom sphinx + -like.",
      "name": "ety"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Etymology tree\nEnglish sphinx\nProto-Indo-European *leyg-der.\nProto-Germanic *līkąder.\nProto-Germanic *-līkaz\nProto-West Germanic *-līk\nOld English -līċ\nMiddle English -like\nEnglish -like\nEnglish sphinxlike\nFrom sphinx + -like.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more sphinxlike",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most sphinxlike",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sphinx-like",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "sphinxlike (comparative more sphinxlike, superlative most sphinxlike)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "74 26",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries referencing missing etymons",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "73 27",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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          "_dis": "73 27",
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          "name": "English entries with etymology trees",
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          "_dis": "84 16",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "80 20",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "81 19",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages using etymon with no ID",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "81 19",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "90 10",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "81 19",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with etymology trees",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              268,
              279
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 57:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              91,
              101
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2020 August 4, Richard Conniff, “They may look goofy, but ostriches are nobody’s fool”, in National Geographic Magazine:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Like a sphinx, or like that of a sphinx, especially, not showing passion or emotion; inscrutable."
      ],
      "id": "en-sphinxlike-en-adj-d4ytVDJQ",
      "links": [
        [
          "Like",
          "like"
        ],
        [
          "sphinx",
          "sphinx"
        ],
        [
          "passion",
          "passion"
        ],
        [
          "emotion",
          "emotion"
        ],
        [
          "inscrutable",
          "inscrutable"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              38,
              49
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1889, Rudyard Kipling, “The Education of Otis Yeere”, in Under the Deodars, Boston: The Greenock Press, published 1899, page 21:",
          "text": "Mrs. Mallowe smiled in a superior and Sphinx-like fashion.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              89,
              99
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2025 March 7, Mark Leibovich, “Mitch McConnell and the President He Calls ‘Despicable’”, in The Atlantic:",
          "text": "“What we need to avoid at the end is a headline that says ‘Russia Won, America Lost.’” A sphinxlike response. Or perhaps a nonresponse.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Mysterious; scheming; having a deceptive outward appearance."
      ],
      "id": "en-sphinxlike-en-adj-pwD1k6kH",
      "links": [
        [
          "Mysterious",
          "mysterious"
        ],
        [
          "scheming",
          "scheming"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "sphinxlike"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English entries referencing missing etymons",
    "English entries with etymology texts",
    "English entries with etymology trees",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *leyg- (like)",
    "English terms suffixed with -like",
    "Pages using etymon with no ID",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Pages with etymology trees"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":af",
        "3": "sphinx",
        "4": "-like",
        "text": "+",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nEnglish sphinx\nProto-Indo-European *leyg-der.\nProto-Germanic *līkąder.\nProto-Germanic *-līkaz\nProto-West Germanic *-līk\nOld English -līċ\nMiddle English -like\nEnglish -like\nEnglish sphinxlike\n[Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"der.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Derived from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"like\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*leyg-\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*līką\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-līkaz\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-līk\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"-līċ\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"-like\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"-like\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"sphinxlike\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"sphinxlike\">\nFrom sphinx + -like.",
      "name": "ety"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Etymology tree\nEnglish sphinx\nProto-Indo-European *leyg-der.\nProto-Germanic *līkąder.\nProto-Germanic *-līkaz\nProto-West Germanic *-līk\nOld English -līċ\nMiddle English -like\nEnglish -like\nEnglish sphinxlike\nFrom sphinx + -like.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more sphinxlike",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most sphinxlike",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sphinx-like",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "sphinxlike (comparative more sphinxlike, superlative most sphinxlike)",
      "name": "en-adj"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
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          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              268,
              279
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 57:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              91,
              101
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2020 August 4, Richard Conniff, “They may look goofy, but ostriches are nobody’s fool”, in National Geographic Magazine:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Like a sphinx, or like that of a sphinx, especially, not showing passion or emotion; inscrutable."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Like",
          "like"
        ],
        [
          "sphinx",
          "sphinx"
        ],
        [
          "passion",
          "passion"
        ],
        [
          "emotion",
          "emotion"
        ],
        [
          "inscrutable",
          "inscrutable"
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          "bold_text_offsets": [
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              49
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          "ref": "1889, Rudyard Kipling, “The Education of Otis Yeere”, in Under the Deodars, Boston: The Greenock Press, published 1899, page 21:",
          "text": "Mrs. Mallowe smiled in a superior and Sphinx-like fashion.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              89,
              99
            ]
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          "ref": "2025 March 7, Mark Leibovich, “Mitch McConnell and the President He Calls ‘Despicable’”, in The Atlantic:",
          "text": "“What we need to avoid at the end is a headline that says ‘Russia Won, America Lost.’” A sphinxlike response. Or perhaps a nonresponse.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Mysterious; scheming; having a deceptive outward appearance."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Mysterious",
          "mysterious"
        ],
        [
          "scheming",
          "scheming"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "sphinxlike"
}

Download raw JSONL data for sphinxlike meaning in English (4.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-06-12 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-06-01 using wiktextract (e79dea5 and 7f4db16). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.