recondite
Known by few
Recondite describes knowledge, subjects, or texts that are obscure and difficult to understand, accessible only to specialists or the deeply learned.
A recondite treatise assumes expertise most readers lack.
The word often carries a whiff of criticism—that something is unnecessarily abstruse: His lectures were so recondite that students stopped attending.
Understood by few
- esotericAccessible to few
- obscureUnknown to most
- impenetrableImpossible to pass through
- unfathomableBeyond comprehension or measurement
inscrutable · opaque · incomprehensible · unintelligible · enigmatic · perplexing · cryptic · profound
Of hidden spiritual significance
- cabalisticRelating to secret mysticism
- kabbalisticOf Jewish mystical tradition
- gnosticRelating to mystical insight
- theosophicalOf divine wisdom study
alchemical · hermetic · occult · oracular · sibylline · initiatory · numinous · metaphysical
Kept out of sight
- obscuredMade hard to perceive
- veiledConcealed or obscured
- shroudedCovered and hidden
- concealedMade invisible deliberately
buried · cloaked · secreted · sequestered · closeted · undisclosed · unrevealed · tucked-away
Relating to education or theory
- eruditeProfoundly knowledgeable
- learnedHaving much knowledge
- pedanticExcessively concerned with minor rules
- scholarlyMarked by serious learning
intellectual · professorial · dissertation · monograph · treatise · thesis · research · philosophy
Extremely complex and winding
- convolutedExcessively complex or twisted
- complexHaving many interconnected parts
- byzantineDauntingly intricate and devious
- elaborateComplex and detailed
tangled · knotty · sophisticated · detailed · ornate · baroque · serpentine · tortuous
arcane
Understood by few
- esotericAccessible to few
- obscureUnknown to most
- impenetrableImpossible to pass through
unfathomable · inscrutable · opaque · incomprehensible · unintelligible · enigmatic · perplexing · cryptic · profound · deep
mystical
Of hidden spiritual significance
- cabalisticRelating to secret mysticism
- kabbalisticOf Jewish mystical tradition
- gnosticRelating to mystical insight
theosophical · alchemical · hermetic · occult · oracular · sibylline · initiatory · numinous · metaphysical · transcendental
hidden
Kept out of sight
concealed · buried · cloaked · secreted · sequestered · closeted · undisclosed · unrevealed · tucked-away · forgotten
academic
Relating to education or theory
- eruditeProfoundly knowledgeable
- learnedHaving much knowledge
- pedanticExcessively concerned with minor rules
scholarly · intellectual · professorial · dissertation · monograph · treatise · thesis · research · philosophy · philology
labyrinthine
Extremely complex and winding
- convolutedExcessively complex or twisted
- complexHaving many interconnected parts
- byzantineDauntingly intricate and devious
elaborate · tangled · knotty · sophisticated · detailed · ornate · baroque · serpentine · tortuous · involuted
- mysteriousmysterious, cryptic, enigmatic, arcane, obscure
- complexitycomplex, complicated, simple, intricate, easy
- fancy wordsgrandiloquent, magniloquent, sesquipedalian, pulchritudinous, tintinnabulation
- overlookedoverlooked, unnoticed, ignored, forgotten, neglected
reconditeobvious
Easily perceived, unmistakable
common knowledge · well-known · manifest · familiar · exoteric
reconditesimple
Free of complexity
straightforward · easy · elementary · basic · uncomplicated
reconditeclear
Without obstruction or fog
plain · lucid · perspicuous · intelligible · transparent