abstruse

Meaning

1. (formal) Difficult to comprehend or understand; obscure.
2. (formal, obsolete) Concealed or hidden; secret.

Opposite of

clear, obvious, understandable, confusing, incomprehensible, open, patent, unconcealed, unhidden

Synonyms

deep

recondite

obscure

profound

mysterious

difficult to understand

secret

㊙️

occult

complex

abstract

involved

arcane

incomprehensible

difficult

dim

doctrinaire

dusk

elusive

esoteric

exquisite

faint

fall

fine

gloomy

haze

hidden

intricate

knotty

minute

murky

mystifying

opaque

profundity

prolix

searching

shadowy

subtile

thoughtful

twilight

unintelligible

unrealistic

wise

acroamatic

mirky

crepuscle

abstracted

blear

blurred

blurry

cloudy

☁️

Translations

abstruso

abstrus

astruso

abstruso

abstrus

obscur

abscons

profond

recondito

mysterieus

ermetico

dunkel

ausgeklügelt

profund

fondo

Pronounced as (IPA)

/əbˈstɹuːs/

Etymology

Cognate with Catalan: abstrús

Cognate with German: abstrus

Cognate with Italian: astruso

Cognate with Middle French: abstruse

Cognate with French: abstrus

Cognate with Portuguese: abstruso

Cognate with Spanish: abstruso

In summary

PIE word
*h₂epó
Learned borrowing from Latin abstrūsus (“concealed, hidden; having been concealed”), an adjective use of the perfect passive participle of abstrūdō (“to conceal, hide; to push or thrust away”), from abs- (from ab- (prefix meaning ‘away; from; away from’)) + trūdō (“to push, shove; to thrust”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *trewd- (“to push; to thrust”)).
Cognates
* Catalan abstrús
* German abstrus (“abstruse”)
* Italian astruso (“abstruse”)
* Middle French abstruse (modern French abstrus, abstruse (“(derogatory, literary) abstruse”)
* Portuguese abstruso (“abstruse”)
* Spanish abstruso (“abstruse”)