arcane
adjective
ar·cane är-ˈkān 
: known or knowable only to a few people : secret
arcane rites
an arcane ritual
broadly : mysterious, obscure
arcane explanations
arcane technical details
Synonyms
- abstruse
- deep
- esoteric
- hermetic
- hermetical
- profound
- recondite
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web The savings and enhancements offered to consumers were so compelling, and the existing rules so arcane, that enforcement was limited, and regulations eventually bent to innovation and consumer choice. 
Jay Clayton, WSJ, 25 Aug. 2022 Shoehorn an arcane regulatory power around interstate shipping to force the lowering of drug prices. Felipe De La Hoz, The New Republic, 22 Aug. 2022 Somebody covering pop culture is going to be getting far more visits to their stories, probably, than somebody covering some arcane energy policy. San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Aug. 2022 Bankman-Fried’s lobbying efforts focus on two arcane but significant regulatory changes. Freddy Brewster, Los Angeles Times, 12 Aug. 2022 Younger readers living in the name, image and likeness era, who will see a torrent of advertising featuring Olympic athletes as the 2024 Paris games draw nearer, may find Maraniss' detailed reporting of amateurism issues arcane, even bizarre. Jim Higgins, Journal Sentinel, 4 Aug. 2022 The Electoral Count Act of 1887 governs the counting and certification of electoral votes in presidential elections and has long been criticized as arcane, vaguely written and vulnerable to abuse. Mary Clare Jalonick, ajc, 3 Aug. 2022 In fact, the clouds to rain equation has become well known to many of us, even if we were not versed in the more arcane and abstruse aspects of weather forecasting. Martin Weil, Washington Post, 17 July 2022 The fate of giant sequoias is almost entirely in the hands of a few middle managers, working at a few select parks, who navigate arcane environmental laws and a financing system cobbled together with public grants. Kyle Dickman, Outside Online, 13 July 2022 See More
Jay Clayton, WSJ, 25 Aug. 2022 Shoehorn an arcane regulatory power around interstate shipping to force the lowering of drug prices. Felipe De La Hoz, The New Republic, 22 Aug. 2022 Somebody covering pop culture is going to be getting far more visits to their stories, probably, than somebody covering some arcane energy policy. San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Aug. 2022 Bankman-Fried’s lobbying efforts focus on two arcane but significant regulatory changes. Freddy Brewster, Los Angeles Times, 12 Aug. 2022 Younger readers living in the name, image and likeness era, who will see a torrent of advertising featuring Olympic athletes as the 2024 Paris games draw nearer, may find Maraniss' detailed reporting of amateurism issues arcane, even bizarre. Jim Higgins, Journal Sentinel, 4 Aug. 2022 The Electoral Count Act of 1887 governs the counting and certification of electoral votes in presidential elections and has long been criticized as arcane, vaguely written and vulnerable to abuse. Mary Clare Jalonick, ajc, 3 Aug. 2022 In fact, the clouds to rain equation has become well known to many of us, even if we were not versed in the more arcane and abstruse aspects of weather forecasting. Martin Weil, Washington Post, 17 July 2022 The fate of giant sequoias is almost entirely in the hands of a few middle managers, working at a few select parks, who navigate arcane environmental laws and a financing system cobbled together with public grants. Kyle Dickman, Outside Online, 13 July 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Latin arcanus
First Known Use
1547, in the meaning defined above
arcane
adjective
1
as in esoteric
difficult for one of ordinary knowledge or intelligence to understand grammatical rules that seem arcane to generations of students who were never taught grammar in the first place Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- esoteric
- profound
- recondite
- abstruse
- hermetic
- ambiguous
- scholarly
- deep
- mystical
- complicated
- confusing
- academic
- complex
- hermetical
- mystic
- enigmatic
- cryptic
- mysterious
- erudite
- pedantic
- inscrutable
- incomprehensible
- orphic
- unintelligible
- academical
- mystifying
- learned
- impenetrable
- uncanny
- unfathomable
- bewildering
- baffling
- unknowable
- enigmatical
- confounding
- perplexing
- darkling
- puzzling
- unanswerable
- disorienting
- hard
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- superficial
- simple
- shallow
- facile
- straightforward
- intelligible
- easy
- understandable
- comprehensible
- plain
- obvious
- apparent
- distinct
- lucid
- clear
- evident
- transparent
- fathomable
- manifest
- perspicuous
- clear-cut
2
as in cryptic
having an often intentionally veiled or uncertain meaning the rebate form uses arcane language, the only purpose of which seems to be to disqualify buyers from actually getting a rebate Synonyms & Similar Words
- cryptic
- ambiguous
- obscure
- esoteric
- dark
- mystic
- mysterious
- enigmatic
- occult
- murky
- vague
- opaque
- inscrutable
- nebulous
- unclear
- enigmatical
- questionable
- recondite
- deep
- abstruse
- uncertain
- equivocal
- confusing
- complicated
- elliptical
- obscurant
- fuliginous
- Delphic
- elliptic
- weird
- uncanny
- shrouded
- incomprehensible
- cloaked
- eerie
- shadowy
- complex
- indecipherable
- double-edged
- indirect
- obfuscatory
- fuzzy
- mystifying
- concealed
- clouded
- inexplicable
- puzzling
- difficult
- inexact
- bewildering
- baffling
- impenetrable
- masked
- hazy
- foggy
- disguised
- misty
- invisible
- perplexing
- shaded
- unknowable
- beclouded
- confounding
- intangible
- indefinite
- faint
- indistinct
- muddy
- noncommittal
- dim
- undefined
- indistinguishable
- obtuse
- unfathomable
- unanswerable
- cloudy
- sphinxlike
- befogged
- inexplicit
- circuitous
- impalpable
- shadowlike
- undetermined
- eery
- bedimmed
- roundabout
- inappreciable
- obscurantic
- obnubilated
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- obvious
- plain
- certain
- clear
- intelligible
- accessible
- unambiguous
- distinct
- understandable
- comprehensible
- knowable
- evident
- unequivocal
- pellucid
- legible
- bright
- direct
- strong
- fathomable
- nonambiguous
- sure
- explicit
- exact
- defined
- firm
- straightforward
- definite
- tangible
- self-evident
- self-explanatory
- determined
- visible
- blatant
- appreciable
- palpable
- unmistakable
- patent
3
as in mysterious
being beyond one's powers to know, understand, or explain my predecessor in this job obviously had his own arcane system for filing things, and so I haven't a clue as to where anything is Synonyms & Similar Words
- cryptic
- mysterious
- obscure
- mystic
- occult
- uncanny
- enigmatic
- deep
- inscrutable
- dark
- esoteric
- impenetrable
- murky
- mystical
- unexplainable
- enigmatical
- vague
- ambiguous
- confusing
- metaphysical
- incomprehensible
- shadowy
- recondite
- unintelligible
- fuzzy
- abstruse
- unfathomable
- supernatural
- mystifying
- unaccountable
- inexplicable
- unknowable
- darkling
- imponderable
- bewildering
- baffling
- puzzling
- unanswerable
- confounding
- perplexing
- equivocal
- befuddling
- numinous
- unsearchable
- disorienting
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- intelligible
- understandable
- plain
- apparent
- obvious
- fathomable
- clear
- evident
- transparent
- unambiguous
- straightforward
- manifest
- patent
- perspicuous
- unmistakable
- palpable
- unequivocal
- open-and-shut