ISEE/SSAT Vocabulary BuilderWordsAabstruse
ISEE/SSAThard
abstruse
Meaning: difficult to understand
abstruse in a sentence
How abstruse is used in real sentences:
The professor's abstruse lecture lost half the class.
The professor's abstruse lecture lost half the class.
“Back at the university, analysts confronted abstruse plots whose stacked frequencies and shifting colors baffled newcomers.”
— from the passage Signals After Midnight
Synonyms for abstruse
Other words for abstruse — obscure, esoteric, arcane and cryptic — carry the same meaning.
Antonyms of abstruse
Words that mean the opposite of abstruse:
- clear
- obvious
Where it comes from
From Latin abstrudere 'to push away'
Word parts
- ab — away from, off of
abstruse: ab- (away) + trude (push)
Memory hook
ABSTRUSE — ABS-OBSCURE.