謎 means “riddle, mystery”

なぞ · nazo

Also: puzzle, enigma, hint

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

なぞ

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

メイ, ベイ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 16 strokes

The story

Words (言) that lead you astray (迷): a riddle. 謎 is a mystery or puzzle, 謎解き is solving one, the escape rooms and puzzle hunts popular all over Japan, and someone 謎めいた is enigmatic.

Used in 謎 (nazo, riddle/mystery), 謎解き (nazotoki, puzzle-solving), and 謎めく (nazomeku, to seem mysterious)

More from Hidden & Hazy

• 匿 hide
• 妄 delusion
• 蔽 cover
• 曖 dim
• 昧 dark
• 踪 trail
• 惑 be bewildered
• 密 secret
• 秘 secret
• 紛 mix in
• 隠 hide
• 潜 dive

Learn 謎 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.