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adjective

abstruse

difficult to understand; obscure

In a sentence

Six example sentences with abstruse, each labelled with its topic.

  • The compiler's error message was so abstruse that even the library's own maintainers argued about what it meant.

    Technology

  • His paper is abstruse enough that most readers stop at the third page of notation and never reach the conclusion.

    Economics

  • Serial composition looked abstruse to concert audiences, who heard no melody they could hold onto after the piece ended.

    Music

  • Hegel's prose is so abstruse that graduate seminars spend a full term on the preface alone.

    Philosophy

  • The fund's fee structure was abstruse by design, and few clients could say what they paid until the annual statement arrived.

    Finance

  • The tax provision is so abstruse that three appeals courts have read the same sentence three different ways.

    Law

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Found in these word lists

Found in 8 published word listsRecognized

Each source is a published word list that contains abstruse. No exam board publishes an official GRE, GMAT or SAT list; GMAT words come from GRE lists and the Academic Word List.