| Main Entry: | abstruse |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | difficult to understand |
Synonyms: |
Greek to me, abstract, clear as dishwater, complex, complicated, deep, enigmatic, esoteric, heavy*, hidden, incomprehensible, intricate, involved, muddy, obscure, perplexing, profound, puzzling, recondite, subtle, unfathomable, vague |
Antonyms: |
clear, concrete, easy, lucid, obvious, plain, simple |
| Main Entry: | abstract |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | conceptual, theoretical |
Synonyms: |
abstruse, complex, deep, hypothetical, ideal, indefinite, intellectual, nonconcrete, philosophical, recondite, transcendent, transcendental, unreal |
Antonyms: |
actual, concrete, factual, material, objective, physical, real |
| Main Entry: | baffling |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | puzzling |
Synonyms: |
abstruse, bewildering, beyond one, confusing, difficult to understand, enigmatic, hard to understand, incomprehensible, mystifying, over one's head, perplexing, unclear, unfathomable |
Antonyms: |
clear, comprehensible |
| Main Entry: | complex |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | difficult to understand |
Synonyms: |
Byzantine, Daedalean, Gordian, abstruse, bewildering, circuitous, complicated, confused, convoluted, crabbed, cryptic, discursive, disordered, disturbing, enigmatic, entangled, excursive, hidden, impenetrable, inscrutable, interwoven, intricate, involved, jumbled, knotted, knotty, labyrinthine, mazy, meandering, mingled, mixed, muddled, obscure, paradoxical, perplexing, puzzling, rambling, recondite, round-about, sinuous, snarled, sophisticated, tangled, tortuous, undecipherable, unfathomable, winding |
| Notes: | something complex may be well-organized and logically constructed as well as subtle and intricate, while a thing that is complicated will have something irregular, perverse, asymmetrical in addition to fundamental intricacy; complex is more formal and technical (a problem in mathematics is complex) while something like personal life can be complicated |
Antonyms: |
apparent, clear, direct, discernible, easy, evident, obvious, plain |
| Main Entry: | complicated |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | difficult, complex |
Synonyms: |
Byzantine, Daedalean, Gordian, abstruse, arduous, can of worms, convoluted, difficult, elaborate, entangled, fancy, gasser, hard, hi-tech, interlaced, intricate, involved, knotty, labyrinthine, mega factor, mixed, perplexing, problematic, puzzling, recondite, sophisticated, troublesome, various, wheels within wheels |
Antonyms: |
easy, facile, simple |
| Main Entry: | cryptic |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | secret; obscure in meaning |
Synonyms: |
Delphian, Delphic, abstruse, ambiguous, apocryphal, arcane, cabalistic, dark, enigmatic, equivocal, esoteric, evasive, hidden, incomprehensible, inexplicable, murky, mysterious, mystic, mystical, mystifying, occult, opaque, oracular, perplexing, puzzling, recondite, secretive, strange, tenebrous, unclear, unfathomable, uninformative, vague, veiled |
Antonyms: |
clear, obvious, plain, seen, straightforward |
| Main Entry: | dark |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | hidden, secret |
Synonyms: |
Delphian, abstruse, anagogic, arcane, cabalistic, complicated, concealed, cryptic, deep, enigmatic, esoteric, intricate, knotty, mysterious, mystic, mystical, mystifying, not known, obscure, occult, puzzling, recondite |
Antonyms: |
apparent, distinct, evident, manifest, plain, visible |
| Main Entry: | deep |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | abstract, complicated in meaning |
Synonyms: |
Delphic, Orphic, Sibylline, abstruse, acute, arcane, complex, concealed, difficult, discerning, esoteric, hard to understand, heavy*, hermetic, hidden, incisive, intricate, learned, mysterious, obscure, occult, penetrating, profound, recondite, sagacious, secret, serious, wise |
Antonyms: |
frivolous, ignorant, shallow, superficial, trivial, unintelligent |
| Main Entry: | difficult |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | complicated; hard to comprehend |
Synonyms: |
abstract, abstruse, baffling, bewildering, complex, confounding, confusing, dark, deep, delicate, enigmatic, enigmatical, entangled, esoteric, formidable, hard to explain, hard to solve, hidden, inexplicable, intricate, involved, knotty, labyrinthine, loose, meandering, mysterious, mystical, mystifying, nice, obscure, obstinate, paradoxical, perplexing, problematical, profound, puzzling, rambling, subtle, tangled, thorny, ticklish, troublesome, unclear, unfathomable, unintelligible, vexing |
Antonyms: |
easy, simple, straightforward, uncomplicated |
| Main Entry: | esoteric |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | mysterious, obscure |
Synonyms: |
Delphic, Orphic, Sibylline, abstruse, acroamatic, arcane, cabalistic, cryptic, deep, heavy, hermetic, hidden, inner, inscrutable, mystic, mystical, occult, private, profound, recondite, secret |
Antonyms: |
common, familiar, known, obvious, public, unmysterious |