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abstruse

   Also found in: Wikipedia 0.06 sec.
ab·struse  (b-strs, b-)
adj.
Difficult to understand; recondite. See Synonyms at ambiguous.
[Latin abstrsus, past participle of abstrdere, to hide : abs-, ab-, away; see ab-1 + trdere, to push; see treud- in Indo-European roots.]
ab·strusely adv.
ab·struseness n.
abstruse
Adjective
not easy to understand [Latin abstrusus concealed]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Adj.1.abstruseabstruse - difficult to penetrate; incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding or knowledge; "the professor's lectures were so abstruse that students tended to avoid them"; "a deep metaphysical theory"; "some recondite problem in historiography"
recondite, deep
esoteric - confined to and understandable by only an enlightened inner circle; "a compilation of esoteric philosophical theories"
Translations
Spanish abstruse [æbˈstruːs] adj → abstruso, oscuro
German abstruse [æbˈstruːs] adj → abstrus
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Doubtless the good man has spent many a studious hour in this old chair, either penning a sermon or reading some abstruse book of theology, till midnight came upon him unawares.
Grandfather's Chair by Hawthorne, Nathaniel View in context
The objects of geometrical inquiry are so entirely abstracted from those pursuits which stir up and put in motion the unruly passions of the human heart, that mankind, without difficulty, adopt not only the more simple theorems of the science, but even those abstruse paradoxes which, however they may appear susceptible of demonstration, are at variance with the natural conceptions which the mind, without the aid of philosophy, would be led to entertain upon the subject.
Federalist Papers Authored by Alexander Hamilton by Hamilton, Alexander View in context
He had read a great deal, chiefly delighting in books which were unusual; and he poured forth his stores of abstruse knowledge with child-like enjoyment of the amazement of his hearers.
Of Human Bondage by Maugham, W. Somerset View in context
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