teka-teki

Indonesian

Etymology

Reduplication of teka (“to guess, suspect”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /təˌka təˈki/ [t̪əˌka t̪əˈki]
• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: te‧ka-te‧ki

Noun

teka-teki (plurale tantum)

1. riddle (a verbal puzzle, mystery, or other problem of an intellectual nature)
2. (figurative) puzzle (anything that is difficult to understand or make sense of)

Compounds

• teka-teki silang

 

Further reading

• “teka-teki” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.