cryptic language
Hard to decode
Cryptic language is speech or writing that is deliberately obscure, mysterious, or difficult to understand.
The phrase often describes communication that conceals meaning through ambiguity, code, or symbolic expression: The oracle spoke in cryptic language that could be interpreted many ways.
It may suggest intentional secrecy or simply an elliptical style that leaves much unsaid.
- riddlePuzzling question to solve
- word puzzleLanguage-based mental game
- cipherHidden writing system
- secret codeEncrypted communication system
- coded messageText needing decryption
secret writing · puzzle · code · steganography · cant · argot · speaking in tongues · enigma · kenning · substitution cipher · obfuscation · encryption · symbol · cloak and dagger · dog whistle · hidden meaning · glyph · euphemism
- Literary Secretsmystery, intrigue, coded messages, hidden meanings, subtext
cryptic languageplain speech
Unembellished verbal expression
plain language · explicit language · plain English · direct speech · accessible language
cryptic languageopen communication
Unrestricted exchange of information
full disclosure · honest talk · laying cards on the table · plain dealing · telling it like it is