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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Relevance
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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
In the summer of 2023, at the end of his third year of graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ilango was growing increasingly interested in an arcane subfield of complexity theory called proof complexity.
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Ben Brubaker,
Quanta Magazine,
11 May 2026
What is usually an arcane process has become an unprecedented political free-for-all.
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Cecilia Vega,
CBS News,
10 May 2026
Winning those contests would grant players Legacy Tickets that would then be automatically converted to GALA using an arcane formula at the end of every day.
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ArsTechnica,
27 Apr. 2026
The late-night vote series in the Senate this week was part of an arcane, complicated process called budget reconciliation that GOP leaders are using to try to fund the two immigration enforcement agencies that Democrats continue to block.
—
ABC News,
24 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for arcane
Ben Brubaker,
Quanta Magazine,
11 May 2026
What is usually an arcane process has become an unprecedented political free-for-all.
—
Cecilia Vega,
CBS News,
10 May 2026
Winning those contests would grant players Legacy Tickets that would then be automatically converted to GALA using an arcane formula at the end of every day.
—
ArsTechnica,
27 Apr. 2026
The late-night vote series in the Senate this week was part of an arcane, complicated process called budget reconciliation that GOP leaders are using to try to fund the two immigration enforcement agencies that Democrats continue to block.
—
ABC News,
24 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for arcane
Recent Examples of Synonyms for arcane
Adjective
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Afterwards, group members went on to form several other hugely meaningful outfits such as Slint, Gastr Del Sol, Bastro, Papa M and the For Carnation, transmuting Squirrel Bait’s Reagan-era aggression into more esoteric, impossible-to-classify sonic explorations.
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This offers the do-it-yourself warrior a simple, direct route from antiquated lead-acid to state-of-the-art lithium without having to search for esoteric parts online.
Adjective
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His doctors speculated his infection might have been a rare case of cryptic transmission from sharing meals and bathrooms with his coworkers, one of whom apparently had a tapeworm infection.
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The Drama stirred debate on social media over its cryptic marketing campaign that did not directly divulge the main focus of the film.
Adjective
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Translation is a very mysterious thing because my goal is to create something that’s deeply equivalent but uses zero of the same words.
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That is until their husbands are killed under mysterious circumstances in the USSR, and the pair become CIA operatives.
Adjective
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This represents a profound shift for institutions accustomed to centralized control.
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Being selected for competition is a profound honour.
Adjective
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Rubio met with Gulf Arab leaders in Bahrain on Thursday in an effort to assuage their concerns over certain terms of the MOU, including the ambiguous language around the management of the Strait of Hormuz.
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With one, everything the best-performing agent learns is written into a layer for the next—how to handle a difficult customer, which exception patterns resolved cleanly, what an ambiguous edge case meant for the business.
Adjective
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The mystic chords that bind us together matter more than any policy.
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Operating within those parameters, the mystic outlands trend extends to some of the world’s most mesmerizing corners.
Adjective
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When that’s not enough, Google may add random noise to the data that can further obscure identities.
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This seems, if anything, deliberately obscure.
Adjective
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Or a cartoony hamburger that is doing a little too much — the cheese drip a little too textured, the shine on the bun a little uncanny.
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Strong opening performances have fueled this intensity, which paradoxically arises from their uncanny parallels as footballing nations.
Cite this Entry
“Arcane.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/arcane. Accessed 1 Jul. 2026.
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