recondite

[ rek-uhn-dahyt, ri-kon-dahyt ]

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adjective

dealing with very profound, difficult, or abstruse subject matter: a recondite treatise.
beyond ordinary knowledge or understanding; esoteric: recondite principles.

little known; obscure: a recondite fact.

Origin of recondite

1640–50; earlier recondit<Latin reconditus recondite, hidden (originally past participle of recondere to hide), equivalent to re-re- + cond(ere) to bring together (con-con- + -dere to put) + -itus-ite²

Other words for recondite

2	deep
3	mysterious, occult, secret

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Opposites for recondite

2	exoteric
3	well-known

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Other words from recondite

rec·on·dite·ly, adverb
rec·on·dite·ness, noun
un·rec·on·dite, adjective

Words Nearby recondite

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use recondite in a sentence

How else to explain the popularity of a novel so free of plot, so obsessed with existential rumination and recondite philosophy?
American Dreams: Saul Bellow’s Masterpiece of Lamentation | Nathaniel Rich | July 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Classical allusions, poetical turns of phrase, antique diction, recondite words.
David's Book Club: The Souls of Black Folk | David Frum | May 5, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Fortunately, the considerations which are necessary are not recondite, and all the facts are of an extremely picturesque nature.
Outlines of the Earth's History | Nathaniel Southgate Shaler
But to determine what these propositions are, is the opus magnum of the more recondite mental philosophy.
A System of Logic: Ratiocinative and Inductive | John Stuart Mill
Such superstitions as these last must be the result of study; they are too recondite for natural or spontaneous growth.
A System of Logic: Ratiocinative and Inductive | John Stuart Mill

The scheme of the pronouns is very complete, and provides for nearly all the recondite distinctions of person.
The Indian in his Wigwam | Henry R. Schoolcraft
To develop truths so recondite there would be needed a knowledge of nature much greater than that which we have.
Treatise on Light | Christiaan Huygens

British Dictionary definitions for recondite

recondite

/ (rɪˈkɒndaɪt, ˈrɛkənˌdaɪt) /

adjective

requiring special knowledge to be understood; abstruse
dealing with abstruse or profound subjects

Origin of recondite

C17: from Latin reconditus hidden away, from re- + condere to conceal

Derived forms of recondite

reconditely, adverb
reconditeness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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