Vocabulary Builder — Essay & Answer Writing
Cryptic
adjective
/ KRIP-tik /
Medium
Meaning
Mysterious or obscure in meaning; hidden, encoded, or deliberately puzzling.
Origin / Etymology
From Greek 'kryptikos' (hidden), from 'kryptos' (hidden, secret). Same root as 'cryptography' and 'crypt'.
Synonyms
Enigmatic
Opaque
Esoteric
Antonyms
Lucid
Transparent
Self-evident
Example Sentence
"RSA, ECC, and other cryptic asymmetric algorithms that secure the modern internet will be broken in polynomial time once Cryptographically Relevant Quantum Computers (CRQCs) mature in the 2030s."
🎯 UPSC Usage
GS3 S&T: Use for encryption, cryptography, intelligence-tradecraft contexts. Also useful for opaque communiqués and ambiguous diplomatic language.
Relevant Subjects
