abstruse
/æb'stru:s/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Adjective: - Difficult to understand; obscure: Describes something that is complex, profound, or intellectually demanding, making it hard to comprehend for those without specialized knowledge or deep thought.
Usage and Examples
- General Usage: Used to describe theories, texts, arguments, or language that are extremely complex and not easily accessible.
- The philosopher's writings are intentionally abstruse, requiring dedicated study.
- The paper was filled with abstruse mathematical formulas that baffled most readers.
Advanced Usage
- "Abstruse reasoning": Refers to logical arguments that are exceptionally complex and hard to follow.
- The legal document was dismissed for its abstruse reasoning, which obscured the core issue.
- "Abstruse concept": Denotes an idea or principle that is profoundly difficult to grasp.
- Quantum entanglement remains an abstruse concept for many outside the field of physics.
Variants and Related Words
- Abstruseness (noun): The quality of being abstruse.
- The abstruseness of the subject matter limited its appeal to a general audience.
Synonyms
- Recondite: Little known and difficult to understand.
- Esoteric: Intended for or understood by only a small number of people with specialized knowledge.
- Arcane: Understood by few; mysterious or secret.
Antonyms
- Clear: Easy to perceive, understand, or interpret.
- Straightforward: Uncomplicated and easy to understand.
- Accessible: (Of information) able to be understood or appreciated.
Related Phrases and Idioms
- "Lost in abstruseness": A phrase describing a state where an argument or text becomes so obscure that its meaning is lost.
- The debate got lost in abstruseness, failing to address the practical concerns.
Adjective
- 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