recondite
Americanadjective
-
dealing with very profound, difficult, or abstruse subject matter.
a recondite treatise.
-
beyond ordinary knowledge or understanding; esoteric.
recondite principles.
- Synonyms:
- deep
- Antonyms:
- exoteric
-
little known; obscure.
a recondite fact.
- Synonyms:
- secret, occult, mysterious
- Antonyms:
- well-known
adjective
-
requiring special knowledge to be understood; abstruse
-
dealing with abstruse or profound subjects
Other Word Forms
Etymology
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 -ite 2
Explanation
It's rather difficult to penetrate the meaning of recondite. Fitting, because it's an adjective that basically means hard for the average mind to understand. If it's really hard to comprehend, then it's safe to say it's recondite. In the same family as "abstruse," "esoteric" and "totally deep, man," recondite is a very serious word that you could use to describe obscure philosophy books, high level mathematical theory, and the series finale of The Sopranos — you know, things that make your brain hurt.
Vocabulary lists containing recondite
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Into the Wild
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100 SAT words Beginning with "R"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Bond knew weapons as well as he did the most recondite French wine list.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026
Success and failure in the movie business is the most recondite of qualities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2024
Today, a number of doyens in the recondite field of AI admit they don’t know where all this is headed.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 6, 2023
Pierre Boulez — like Bernstein, a composer, though in a more recondite modernist mode — innovated with repertory mixtures and concert formats.
From New York Times ● Feb. 7, 2023
By various recondite processes, he converted the urine first into a noxious paste and then into a translucent warty substance.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
