different between abstruse vs intellectual
abstruse
English
Etymology
From French abstrus or its source, Latin abstr?sus (“hidden, concealed”), the perfect passive participle of abstr?d? (“conceal, to push away”), itself from ab, abs (“away”) + tr?d? (“thrust, push”). Cognate with German abstrus.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?b?st?u?s/
- (General American) IPA(key): /æb?st?us/, /?b-/
- Rhymes: -u?s
- Hyphenation: ab?struse
Adjective
abstruse (comparative abstruser or more abstruse, superlative abstrusest or most abstruse)
- Difficult to comprehend or understand. [from late 16th c.]
- Synonyms: esoteric, obscure, recondite
- (obsolete) Concealed or hidden out of the way; secret. [from late 16th c. until mid 18th c.]
Usage notes
More abstruse and most abstruse are the preferred forms over abstruser and abstrusest.
Synonyms
- (concealed): clandestine, secret, surreptitious; See also Thesaurus:covert
- (difficult to comprehend): esoteric, obscure, recondite; See also Thesaurus:incomprehensible
Derived terms
- abstrusely
- abstruseness
Translations
References
Further reading
- abstruse in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- abstruse in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Anagrams
- Staubers, Straubes, surbates, surbeats
French
Adjective
abstruse
- feminine singular of abstrus
Anagrams
- arbustes
German
Adjective
abstruse
- inflection of abstrus:
- strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
- strong nominative/accusative plural
- weak nominative all-gender singular
- weak accusative feminine/neuter singular
Latin
Participle
abstr?se
- vocative masculine singular of abstr?sus
References
- abstruse in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
abstruse From the web:
- abstruse meaning
- what abstruse mean
- abstruse what does that mean
- abstrusely what part of speech
- what does abstruse mean in english
- what does abstruse
- what does abstruse mean in a sentence
- what is abstruse ideas
intellectual
English
Alternative forms
- intellectuall (obsolete)
Etymology
From Old French intellectuel, from Latin intellectualis
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /??nt??l?k(t)???l/
Adjective
intellectual (comparative more intellectual, superlative most intellectual)
- Pertaining to, or performed by, the intellect; mental or cognitive.
- 1920, Harold Monro, Preface to s:The year's at the spring; an anthology of recent poetry
- Pleasure is various, but it cannot exist where the emotions or the imagination have not been powerfully stirred. Whether it be called sensual or intellectual, pleasure cannot be willed
- 1920, Harold Monro, Preface to s:The year's at the spring; an anthology of recent poetry
- Endowed with intellect; having a keen sense of understanding; having the capacity for higher forms of knowledge or thought; characterized by intelligence or cleverness
- 1894, Edgar Wilson Nye, Nye's History of the USA Chapter 30
- The Fenimore Cooper Indian is no doubt a brave and highly intellectual person, educated abroad, refined and cultivated by foreign travel, graceful in the grub dance or scalp walk-around, yet tender-hearted as a girl, walking by night fifty-seven miles in a single evening to warn his white friends of danger.
- 1894, Edgar Wilson Nye, Nye's History of the USA Chapter 30
- Suitable for exercising one's intellect; perceived by the intellect
- 1916, Joseph McCabe, The Tyranny of Shams Chapter IX
- A good deal of nonsense is written about sport and entertainment. Many of us can, with pleasant ease, suspend a severely intellectual task for a few hours to witness a first-class football match.
- Relating to the understanding; treating of the mind.
- (archaic, poetic) Spiritual.
- 1805, William Wordsworth, The Prelude, Book II, lines 331-334 (eds. Jonathan Wordsworth, M. H. Abrams, & Stephen Gill, published by W. W. Norton & Company, 1979):
- I deem not profitless those fleeting moods / Of shadowy exultation; not for this, / That they are kindred to our purer mind / And intellectual life […]
- 1805, William Wordsworth, The Prelude, Book II, lines 331-334 (eds. Jonathan Wordsworth, M. H. Abrams, & Stephen Gill, published by W. W. Norton & Company, 1979):
Antonyms
- nonintellectual
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
Noun
intellectual (plural intellectuals)
- An intelligent, learned person, especially one who discourses about learned matters.
- Synonym: highbrow
- Coordinate terms: egghead, nerd, geek
- 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, pp. 20–21:
- ‘You know I hate intellectuals.’
‘You mean you hate people who are cleverer than you are.’
‘Yes. I suppose that's why I like you so much, Tom.’
- ‘You know I hate intellectuals.’
- (archaic) The intellect or understanding; mental powers or faculties.
- 1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, London: Edw. Dod & Nath. Ekins, 1650, Book I, Chapter 1, p. 2,[1]
- […] although their intellectuals had not failed in the theory of truth, yet did the inservient and brutall faculties control the suggestion of reason […]
- 1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, London: Edw. Dod & Nath. Ekins, 1650, Book I, Chapter 1, p. 2,[1]
Derived terms
- public intellectual
Translations
See also
- intelligentsia
References
- intellectual in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- "intellectual" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 169.
intellectual From the web:
- what intellectual property
- what intellectual movement was key to the renaissance
- what intellectual mean
- what intellectual developments led to the enlightenment
- what intellectual disability
- what intellectual disability mean
Share
Tweet
+1
Share
Pin
Like
Send
Share
you may also like
- abstruse vs intellectual
- many vs multifarious
- pigeonhole vs tag
- unlawful vs fraudulent
- couple vs yoke
- effort vs essay
- dismal vs foggy
- energising vs quickening
- decrease vs abridge
- compact vs abridge
- framework vs mould
- embarrassing vs rank
- assuage vs dull
- award vs largesse
- doubtful vs changeable
- genesis vs founding
- bequest vs concession
- tact vs sensitivity
- accumulation vs miscellany
- emblem vs streamer