Abstract and abstruse

Abstract (AB strakt) (Adjective)

Abstract means theoretical or impersonal. When you like something in the abstract, you like the idea of it.

• I liked oysters in the abstract, but when I actually ate one, I became nauseated.

• Abstract speculations are hard-to-understand speculations.

Synonyms of abstract

Theoretical, recondite, abstruse

Antonyms of abstract

Concrete, practical

Abstruse (ab STROOS) (adjective)

If something is abstruse, it is hard to understand.

• The article was very abstruse. I couldn’t understand even a word in it.

• Trigonometry is a subject that has always been too abstruse for me.