Advertisement

Advertisement

View synonyms for arcane

arcane

[ ahr-keyn ]

adjective

  1. known or understood by very few; mysterious; secret; obscure; esoteric:

    She knew a lot about Sanskrit grammar and other arcane matters.



arcane

/ ɑːˈkeɪn /

adjective

  1. requiring secret knowledge to be understood; mysterious; esoteric
“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


Discover More

Derived Forms

  • arˈcanely, adverb
  • arˈcaneness, noun
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of arcane1

First recorded in 1540–50; from Middle French, from Latin arcānus, from arc(ēre) “to enclose, restrain, ward off” (derivative of arca “box, chest, coffer”) + -ānus -an
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of arcane1

C16: from Latin arcānus secret, hidden, from arcēre to shut up, keep safe
Discover More

Example Sentences

The bills are long and complex, with arcane differences around industry policy, licensing and other details.

The recent fight between Senate Democrats and Republicans over the rules that would govern the chamber this session was complicated and arcane.

If that math seems wacky, it is, but leverage, arcane financial instruments and access to those by only a few is what makes it possible.

From Time

While many of the details are arcane, the infrastructure Paxos is building is potentially transformative for fields beyond cryptocurrency.

From Fortune

He also contributed clues, drawing from his knowledge in such arcane fields as oil drilling and bullfighting.

All those bloodthirsty tweets and arcane exhortations and now we find out you were an advertising executive—an ad exec!

Food stamps are the biggest and most expensive component of the farm bill—an arcane piece of legislation that sets farm policy.

The arcane pair of paragraphs are packed with the sort of yawn-provoking polysyllables that only a lawyer could love.

He is admirably intent on rescuing literature from the arcane rituals of US academia and restoring it to a wider audience.

While they are arcane even in Georgia, they apparently are not without some small degree of influence.

Arcane took a bucket of water back from camp and after drinking it and resting awhile the ox was driven down to the spring.

Now preparations began, Mr. Arcane killed the ox which had so nearly failed, and all the men went to drying and preparing meat.

Mr. Arcane had about $30 and others threw in small amounts from forty cents upward.

We met Bennett and Arcane's teamsters, and as we expected they were already out of grub and no way to get anymore.

Arcane was quite of the same opinion, the saving of a week of hard and tiresome travel being in each case the deciding reason.

Advertisement

Related Words

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


arcanaarcanist