Meaning & use
recondite
Last updated
UK/ˈrekəndaɪt/
US/rɪˈkɑːndaɪt/
Meaning
adjectivenot comparableformal
Hard to understand because the subject is obscure, difficult, or known only to specialists.
Grammar: Usually no comparative; use before a noun or after seem: a recondite subject.
Patterns
- recondite subject
- recondite details
- recondite argument
The lecture left out the most recondite equations.
Her paper turns recondite archive notes into a clear story.
Common combinations
- recondite subject
- Medieval law is a recondite subject for most readers.
- recondite scholarship
- The edition includes recondite scholarship in the notes.
- recondite terminology
- The manual avoids recondite terminology.
- recondite for most readers
- The joke was recondite for most readers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- abstruse
- Abstruse stresses complexity of ideas; recondite stresses knowledge hidden from ordinary readers.
- obscure
- Obscure can mean little known or hard to see; recondite is narrower and more learned.
- esoteric
- Esoteric is understood by a small inner group; recondite is difficult because it is remote and specialized.
Opposites
Word family
- reconditeness noun
- rare noun meaning obscurity or difficulty
Commonly confused: recondite or reconcile?
recondite vs reconcile
Reconcile means restore friendly relations or make accounts match; recondite means obscure and difficult.
Practice
Which word is closest in meaning to recondite?
Choose one answer.
Recondite means difficult because it is obscure or specialist; the other choices do not describe hidden knowledge.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “recondite”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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