abstruse

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Otherwise they will be too abstruse or, worse, too dull for the reader to care about.

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Definitions (5)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. adjective Difficult to understand; recondite. See Synonyms at ambiguous.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (2)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

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Examples

  • The explanation of such a state of things is a little abstruse, but an attempt may be made at giving it. —  William of Germany
  • Janis and Full Tilt were ready to ship out for their Florida concerts. —  Buried Alive, The Biography of Janis Joplin
  • Otherwise they will be too abstruse or, worse, too dull for the reader to care about. —  Ten Minutes, That's It
  • Perhaps we can drive this madness from him if we can find him. " —  Conan the Wanderer
  • "Let's not get abstruse, shall we?" —  Oathbreaker
 

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Abstruse has been looked up 1495 times, favorited 6 times, listed 97 times, and commented on twice.

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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Latin abstrūsus, past participle of abstrūdere, to hide : abs-, ab-, away; see ab-1 + trūdere, to push; see treud- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Latin abstrusus, hidden, concealed, past participle of abstrudere, conceal, thrust away: see abstrude.
 

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/æbˈstrus/
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