1
as in esoteric
difficult for one of ordinary knowledge or intelligence to understand
grammatical rules that seem arcane to generations of students who were never taught grammar in the first place
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in cryptic
having an often intentionally veiled or uncertain meaning
the rebate form uses arcane language, the only purpose of which seems to be to disqualify buyers from actually getting a rebate
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in mysterious
being beyond one's powers to know, understand, or explain
my predecessor in this job obviously had his own arcane system for filing things, and so I haven't a clue as to where anything is
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of arcane
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
Speedrunners have also found some arcane sequence skips to get around certain bosses or methods for putting off some boss fights until later than the developers intended.
—ArsTechnica, 11 Sep. 2025
The question of which individual investor owns which share of which company is surprisingly murky, an artifact of arcane market plumbing made more difficult by the rise of ETFs and fractional share ownership.
—Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for arcane
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
Speedrunners have also found some arcane sequence skips to get around certain bosses or methods for putting off some boss fights until later than the developers intended.
—ArsTechnica, 11 Sep. 2025
The question of which individual investor owns which share of which company is surprisingly murky, an artifact of arcane market plumbing made more difficult by the rise of ETFs and fractional share ownership.
—Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for arcane
Recent Examples of Synonyms for arcane
Adjective
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Other of these esoteric features might actually be worth seeking out.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
18 Oct. 2025
-
Duran had published articles on Tan and his wealthy colleagues, like Balaji Srinivasan, a tech investor who was promoting an esoteric but stubbornly influential concept called the Network State.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
15 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Strange statues and cryptic riddles in Italian or Latin appear around every corner, making each visit feel like a discovery that the whole family can enjoy.—
Fulvio De Bonis,
Travel + Leisure,
17 Oct. 2025
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Danity Kane has revealed dates for a collection of reunion performances with cryptic messaging.—
DeMicia Inman,
VIBE.com,
16 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
In a decadent Venetian hotel, androgynous Eva is drawn to the mysterious Contessa.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
23 Oct. 2025
-
When a mysterious prankster befalls the town of Middlesburg, 13-year-old Frances McCausland (Erin Chambers) gets blamed for the mischief.—
Catherine Santino,
PEOPLE,
23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Sclerotic growth, stagnant real wages, and crumbling public services are generating profound dissatisfaction.—
Anand Menon,
Time,
18 Oct. 2025
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But there’s something almost profound about its infinite interpretations, its refusal to be defined.—
Scottie Andrew,
CNN Money,
18 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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According to the institute statement, which remained ambiguous about the mosquito’s permanence, the insect probably arrived via freight transportation.—
Margherita Bassi,
Popular Science,
23 Oct. 2025
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Perhaps its message is meant to be deliberately ambiguous—or maybe there’s no message at all.—
Shirley Li,
The Atlantic,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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This was the danger Madison considered — that mystic memory would falsely elevate the Constitution.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
10 Oct. 2025
-
Despite some promising high-concept notions such as an intergalactic federation, mystic beings, parasitic species, a sentient interstellar craft, and Slipstream FTL quantum mechanics, seemingly inevitable creative differences arose as the show progressed.—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
2 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Some use protocols that are not designed to protect privacy, obscure ownership or fail to encrypt traffic properly.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
23 Oct. 2025
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The jokes about gallon jars of mayonnaise perhaps obscure the company’s true power.—
Molly Fischer,
New Yorker,
20 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The stunning Louvre museum heist earlier this week in Paris offers an uncanny encapsulation of the broader society-wide phenomenon.—
MSNBC Newsweek,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Oct. 2025
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The film examines the exhilarating and uncanny experience of meeting a blood brother for the first time in adulthood.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
23 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Arcane.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/arcane. Accessed 25 Oct. 2025.
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