abstruse
Americanadjective
-
hard to understand; recondite; esoteric.
abstruse theories.
- Synonyms:
- arcane, unfathomable, incomprehensible
- Antonyms:
- obvious, simple, uncomplicated, clear
-
Obsolete. secret; hidden.
adjective
Other Word Forms
- abstrusely adverb
- abstruseness noun
Etymology
Origin of abstruse
1590–1600; < Latin abstrūsus thrust away, concealed (past participle of abstrūdere ), equivalent to abs- abs- + trūd- thrust + -tus past participle suffix
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Mr. Barnes has long brought something exotic to English literature, but never anything so abstruse as to become alienating.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026
That might sound like an abstruse philosophical argument, but he says it's a hot debate within the scientific community.
From Salon • Jun. 15, 2025
A figure of undisputed authority in some of the most abstruse corners of computing, Conway was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1989.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 11, 2024
The decades-old concept could explain many things, such as where WIMPs come from, but its main job is to solve a more abstruse problem.
From Science Magazine • Mar. 27, 2024
At sixteen, he made his way through Bertrand Russell and Alfred North Whitehead’s famously abstruse masterpiece Principia Mathematica.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
