recondite
1
9.9
- adjective
- /ˈrɛkənˌdaɪt/
- Formal
:
recondito
- The professor lectured on a recondite topic that few in the audience understood.
- more recondite
Examples
-
Still, I think "actual exercises"—as opposed to the academic ones—exist everywhere and that even the most recondite disciplines in the most remote locations have found ways of applying knowledge to real-world problems.
Blog text (31) -
The significance of the Consilium dinners—the only time during the week when all the Fellows came together—was more recondite.
Academic text (1999) -
This is a subtle and recondite truth, but there are many people who do not acknowledge it.
Academic text (2009) -
Many of the more recondite Olympic sports are only recently familiar to the writers covering them.
Blog text (9) -
In just about any arena where dance is judged, standards and achievement levels are recondite.
Academic text (1994) -
Very clever, very recondite, and very unhelpful.
Fiction book (1996) -
But you don't need even a smattering of recondite economics to understand Marx's enduring place in the modern world.
Academic text (1992) -
Eagland had fought many and various enemies with many and various allies, often on quite recondite pretexts, but always justly, chivalrously, and with ultimate success.
Academic text (2000) -
In recent years, this has only accelerated as more of the recondite aspects of creation, transformation, and critical perception in the arts have been researched, analyzed, and made accessible to those outside the field.
Academic text (2000) -
In trying to address readers of extremely varied backgrounds, the commentary provides extraordinarily detailed information about the most recondite and at times obscure issues, yet at the same time occasionally seems to belabor the obvious.
Academic text (1998)
Synonyms
583
7.6
Hard to understand or explain
498
5.1
Hard to understand or explain because it seems strange
52
7.0
Hard to understand or describe, like the meaning of a symbol
46
8.8
Difficult or impossible to understand
34
7.3
Few people know about it
28
8.2
Hard to understand because it is unclear or complex
27
8.1
Hard to understand and often seems mysterious
12
8.9
Hard to understand because it shows no clear meaning or feeling
9
6.4
Difficult to understand
3
9.9
Hard to understand because it is very complex
1
7.4
Not easy to see or understand without careful thinking
Difficult to understand
Antonyms
How Difficult
Surface Forms
Etymology
Recondite comes from Latin parts re- ('again') and condere ('to hide'), so it originally meant 'hidden away'. Like the English word abscond, it carries the idea of being hidden, which is why a recondite topic is difficult for most people to understand.