Abstruse

Practice This Word

Difficult to understand; obscure or highly complex.

adjective

Abstruse

Difficult to understand; obscure or highly complex.

adjective

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Imagine This

Abs -> Sounds and looks like Absent. Abs_truth -> Absent of truth. Things that are absent of truth are usually difficult to understand.

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Sounds Like

ab-STROOS

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Looks Like

Looks like 'abstract' or 'absent'.

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Remember This

Remember this: Abstruse shares a root with abstract, both hinting at concealment or removal from plain understanding.

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Other Forms

abstruselyadverb

abstrusenessnoun

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Connect With

arcane, obscure, opaque, esoteric

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Note

Use abstruse to describe ideas, arguments, or writings that are genuinely hard to understand; avoid applying it to everyday tasks or people unless you mean their ideas are hard to grasp.

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Study Deeper

Examples

The professor's abstruse lectures left many students puzzled.
Her abstruse handwriting made the notes nearly indecipherable.

Synonyms

obscurearcanereconditecrypticinscrutable

Antonyms

cleartransparentcomprehensible

Etymology

From Latin abstrusus 'hidden, concealed,' from ab- 'away' + trudere 'to thrust'; the sense 'difficult to understand' comes from being hidden from plain view.

Mnemonic

Absent truth makes understanding hard: ABSTRUSE = Absent Truth, requiring extra effort to understand.

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Acerbic

adjective

Sharp or biting in tone or taste; caustic or mordant in manner.

Furtive

adjective

Secretive and stealthy, avoiding notice or attention, especially to conceal wrongdoing or achieve a goal.

Ally

noun

A person or group that cooperates with or supports another; a partner in a shared effort. The verb form 'to ally' means to join with another for mutual benefit.