: known or knowable only to a few people : secret
arcane rites
an arcane ritual
Examples of arcane in a Sentence
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The rules are often arcane and not necessarily understood by the people who live in these places.
—
Naaman Zhou, New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2025
For people who can spend entire careers focused on arcane problems or ideas, even a little popular recognition can be a life-changing path to consulting gigs or long-term funding or, with luck, to others building on your work after you’re gone.
—Andre Mouchard, Oc Register, 10 Oct. 2025
Graff is an oddball with Fox Mulder-levels of arcane knowledge stuffed into his brain.
—Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 24 Sep. 2025
Our political campaign system is disjointed and complex, and our government is a behemoth filled with thousands of actors and arcane processes.
—Andrew Frank, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for arcane
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Naaman Zhou, New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2025
For people who can spend entire careers focused on arcane problems or ideas, even a little popular recognition can be a life-changing path to consulting gigs or long-term funding or, with luck, to others building on your work after you’re gone.
—Andre Mouchard, Oc Register, 10 Oct. 2025
Graff is an oddball with Fox Mulder-levels of arcane knowledge stuffed into his brain.
—Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 24 Sep. 2025
Our political campaign system is disjointed and complex, and our government is a behemoth filled with thousands of actors and arcane processes.
—Andrew Frank, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for arcane
Cite this Entry
“Arcane.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/arcane. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.
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