abstruse

adjective

ab·struse əb-ˈstrüs

ab-

Synonyms of abstruse next

formal

: difficult to comprehend : recondite

the abstruse calculations of mathematicians

abstruse concepts/ideas/theories

abstrusely adverb

abstruseness noun

Did you know?

Latin Ties Things Together With Abstruse

Look closely at the following Latin verbs, all of which are derived from the verb trudere ("to push, thrust"): extrudere, intrudere, obtrudere, protrudere. Remove the last two letters of each of these and you get an English descendant whose meaning involves pushing or thrusting. Another trudere offspring, abstrudere, meaning "to push away" or "to conceal," gave English abstrude, meaning "to thrust away," but that 17th-century borrowing has fallen out of use. An abstrudere descendant that has survived is abstruse, an adjective that recalls the meaning of its Latin parent abstrūsus, meaning "concealed."

Examples of abstruse in a Sentence

Her subject matter is abstruse. you're not the only one who finds Einstein's theory of relativity abstruse

Recent Examples on the Web Like bird-watching or gardening, overseeing homework is a specialized and abstruse hobby. —

Saul Austerlitz, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2023 First published in 1619, Kepler’s treatise was both an abstruse work of mathematics and a vision of the universe as a kind of celestial music box. —

Burkhard Bilger, The New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2023 No subject is too abstruse for his fiendishly playful comic imagination. —

Ashley Lee, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2023 Many of the fiercest issues of contention in contemporary discourse can be put aside if these abstruse philosophical claims are correct. —

Oliver Traldi, Washington Examiner, 1 June 2023 During the discussion on Twitter, which lasted almost an hour, Musk answered abstruse technical questions and provided a detailed timeline of what went wrong during the four-minute flight. —

Kenneth Chang, BostonGlobe.com, 30 Apr. 2023 During the discussion on Twitter, which lasted almost an hour, Mr. Musk answered abstruse technical questions and provided a detailed timeline of what went wrong during the four-minute flight. —

Kenneth Chang, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2023 Audience response has been muted to outright hostile: Casual fans have bemoaned having to follow increasingly abstruse mythology (Mythosaurs! —

Adam B. Vary, Variety, 7 Apr. 2023 The rules of the NFL’s salary cap are abstruse. —

Andrew Beaton, WSJ, 26 Feb. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'abstruse.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin abstrūsus "concealed, recondite," from past participle of abstrūdere "to conceal," from abs- (variant of ab- ab- before c- and t-) + trūdere "to push, thrust" — more at threat entry 1