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Glite Dictionary
🦁 Like a sphinx 🕵️ Mysterious
sphinxlike

sphinxlike

9.7
Looking like a statue of a creature with a human head and a lion's body
  • adjective
  • /ˈsfɪŋkslaɪk/
translation icon : esfingéa
  • Her expression was so calm and sphinxlike that no one could guess her thoughts.

Examples

  • The ancient temple was guarded by two sphinxlike figures carved from stone.

  • The ancient ruins appeared sphinxlike against the sunset.

  • A sphinxlike monument stood at the center of the plaza, attracting many tourists.

  • The statue stood sphinxlike in the garden.

  • The ancient sphinxlike statue stands majestically at the entrance of the museum.

  • Her expression was sphinxlike, revealing nothing about her thoughts during the meeting.

  • The building's design was sphinxlike, combining intricate carvings with a towering, lion-like structure.

Synonyms

statuelike
vssphinxlike
6.1

Showing great stillness and dignity, as if not moving

has specific human head and lion body features, showing a hybrid monumental form
sphingine
vssphinxlike
  • Literature
9.9

Being very mysterious and hard to understand

focuses more on monumental sculpted features than on mysterious expression
Sphinxian
vssphinxlike
  • Literature
9.9

Having a calm face that hides what someone thinks

emphasizes physical, monumental form rather than secretive expression

How Monumental

monumental
16 6.3
sphinxlike
9.7
stately
23 5.7
statuesque
7 7.0
modest
192 3.3

Surface Forms

sphinxlike positive

Morphology

sphinxlike = sphinx (transparent) = sphinx + like

Literally 'resembling a sphinx' (appearance or form), so knowing 'sphinx' and the productive suffix '-like' allows a learner to infer the meaning.

Etymology

Sphinxlike comes from the Sphinx, a legendary creature with a human head and a lion's body that often sat like a stone guardian by temples. So sphinxlike can describe something that looks 'statue-like' or very monumental in appearance.