abstruse
Syllables: abs·truse/əbˈstɹuːs/US/əbˈstɹus/
abstruse adjective: difficult to comprehend or understand; obscure.
Adjective
abstruse (comparative abstruser or more abstruse, superlative abstrusest or most abstruse)
- Difficult to comprehend or understand; obscure.
- Some time the good makithe an ile end⸝ ãd the ile a godd. In this opiniõ⸝ and in ſcrutable miſterie be werithe all his wittes⸝ and at the end of his cogitacions⸝ fyndithe more abſtruſe⸝ and doutfull obiections thẽ at the beginning⸝ […][1548], Joanne Hopper [i.e., John Hooper], “Curiositie”, in A Declaration of the Ten Holy Cõmaundementes of Allmygthye God […], [Zurich]: [Christoph Froschauer], →OCLC, page CCXVIII
- Be leſs abſtruſe, my riddling days are paſt.1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 65, line 75
- Synonyms:
- abstrusive, arcane, cryptic, esoteric, recondite, Chinese, dense, enigmatic, fathomless, bottomless
- Antonyms:
- clear, obvious, understandable, apprehensible, limpid, comprehensible, explainable, explicable, explicatable, fathomable
- Concealed or hidden; secret.
- O vvho is he that could carrie nevves to our olde father, that thou vvert but aliue, although thou vvert hidden in the moſt abſtruſe dungeons of Barbarie; for his riches, my brothers and mine vvould fetch thee from thence.1612, [Miguel de Cervantes], “Which Speakes of that which after Befell in the Inne; and of Sundry Other Things Worthy to be Knowne”, in Thomas Shelton, transl., The History of the Valorous and Wittie...
- [T]he abſtruſeſt Things / VVhich in the Mindes dark Temper neſtling ly, / By you expoſed are to every Eye.1648, Joseph Beaumont, “Canto XVII. The Mortification. Stanza 182.”, in Psyche: Or Loves Mysterie, […], London: […] John Dawson for George Boddington, […], →OCLC, page 328, column 2
- Synonyms:
- abstrused, clandestine, surreptitious, behind the scenes, catlike, backroom, backstairs, stealth, cloak-and-dagger, concealed
- Antonyms:
- open, patent, unconcealed, unhidden
abstruse meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
abstruse in Hindi
- difficult to comprehend or understand — see also obscure
- बारीक bārīk
abstruse in Tamil
- புரியாத, புரிந்த கொள்ளவதற்கு கடினமான, எளிதில் அறியப்படமாட்டா, மறைபொருளான
abstruse in Marathi
- abstruse, impalpable, unintelligible
- दुर्बोध durbodh
- abstruse
- बिकट bikaṭ
abstruse in Urdu
- دقیق
More languagesFewer languages
- abstruse in Bengali
- দুর্বোধ্য, জটিল
- abstruse in Telugu
- గూఢము gūḍhamu
- abstruse in Malayalam
- ഗഹനമായ, മനസ്സിലാക്കാൻ പ്രയാസമുള്ള, അഗാധമായ
- abstruse in Kannada
- ಹುದುಗಿದ, ಮುಚ್ಚುಮರೆಯ, ಅರ್ಥವಾಗದ, ಕ್ಲಿಷ್ಟವಾದ
- abstruse in Tagalog
- baliwag
- abstruse in Vietnamese
- huyền diệu
Examples of abstruse in a sentence
- In a thousand ways he smoothed for me the path of knowledge, and made the most abstruse inquiries clear and facile to my apprehension.1831 October 31, Mary W[ollstonecraft] Shelley, chapter IV, in Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus (Standard Novels; IX), 3rd edition...
- After the subject (victim, if you like) had read say thirty of the best solid novels of the twentieth century, I think I should draw him to the more abstruse modern novels and stories.1918, Walter Lionel George, A Novelist on Novels:
Synonyms of abstruse
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- Greek
- inapprehensible
- incognizable
- incomprehensible
- ineffable
- inenubilable
- inexplicable
- impenetrable
- insensible
- inscrutable
- insoluble
- insolvable
- mysterious
- nonunderstandable
- obscure
- tenebrose
- thick
- undecipherable
- undiscoverable
- unexplainable
- unfathomable
- ungraspable
- unintelligible
- unknowable
- ununderstandable
- clandestine
- surreptitious
- behind the scenes
- catlike
- backroom
Antonyms
- clear
- obvious
- understandable
- apprehensible
- limpid
- comprehensible
- explainable
- explicable
- explicatable
- fathomable
10 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of abstruse
| comparative | abstruser |
|---|---|
| comparative | more abstruse |
| superlative | abstrusest |
| superlative | most abstruse |
Origin of abstruse
PIE word *h₂epó Learned borrowing from Latin abstrūsus (“concealed, hidden; having been concealed”), an adjective use of the perfect passive participle of abstrūdō (“to conceal, hide; to push or thrust away”), from abs- (from ab- (prefix meaning ‘away; from; away from’)) + trūdō (“to push, shove; to thrust”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *trewd- (“to push; to thrust”)). Cognates * Catalan abstrús * German abstrus (“abstruse”) * Italian astruso (“abstruse”) * Middle French abstruse (modern French abstrus, abstruse (“(derogatory, literary) abstruse”) * Portuguese abstruso (“abstruse”) * Spanish abstruso (“abstruse”)
Words formed from abstruse
Words that rhyme with abstruse
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- deduce
- sluice
- unloose
- educe
- effuse
- introduce
- mousse
- produce
- recluse
- reproduce
- Rus
- seduce
- spruce
- excuse
- moose
- traduce
- transduce
- vamoose
- Zeus
- abduce
- adduce
- cruse
- diffuse
- disuse
- doos
- douce
- overproduce
- papoose
- reuse
- truce
- unsluice
- Al-Andalus
- ashy-headed goose
- boose
- burnoose
- caduce
- ceruse
- charlotte russe
- Emden goose
- fog juice
- hoose
- ill-use
- incuse
- luce
- misuse
- noose
- obstruse
- overuse
Questions about abstruse
- What does abstruse mean?
- Abstruse means difficult to comprehend or understand; obscure.
- What is abstruse in Hindi?
- Abstruse in Hindi is बारीक (bārīk). See Abstruse meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use abstruse in a sentence?
- In a thousand ways he smoothed for me the path of knowledge, and made the most abstruse inquiries clear and facile to my apprehension.
- What part of speech is abstruse?
- Abstruse is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce abstruse?
- Abstruse is pronounced /əbˈstɹuːs/ (UK).
Words near abstruse in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: abstruse (page history and authors); abstruse (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); दुर्बोध (Marathi) (page history and authors); abstruse (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); abstruse (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); abstruse (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); abstruse (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “abstruse.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/abstruse. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.