Abstruse vs Humble - What's the difference?
abstruse | humble | Related terms |
(obsolete) Concealed or hidden out of the way; secret.
* 1612 , Thomas Shelton (translator), Miguel de Cervantes (Spanish author), The History of the Valorous and Wittie Knight-Errant Don-Quixote of the Mancha , Part 4, Chapter 15, page 500:
* 1667 , , Paradise Lost :
Difficult to comprehend or understand; recondite; obscure; esoteric.
* 1548 , Bishop John Hooper, A Declaration of the Ten Holy Comaundementes of Almygthye God , Chapter 17 Curiosity, Page 218:
* 1748 , David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. ยง 13.
* 1855 , , History of Latin Christianity :
Near the ground; not high or lofty; not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming; as, a humble cottage.
Thinking lowly of oneself; claiming little for oneself; not proud, arrogant, or assuming; modest.
* {{quote-news
, year=2012
, date=June 28
, author=Jamie Jackson
, title=Wimbledon 2012: Lukas Rosol shocked by miracle win over Rafael Nadal
, work=the Guardian
To bring low; to reduce the power, independence, or exaltation of; to lower; to abase; to humiliate.
To make humble or lowly in mind; to abase the pride or arrogance of; to reduce the self-sufficiency of; to make meek and submissive; -- often used reflexively.
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As adjectives the difference between abstruse and humble
is that abstruse is concealed or hidden out of the way; secret while humble is near the ground; not high or lofty; not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming; as, a humble cottage.As a verb humble is
to bring low; to reduce the power, independence, or exaltation of; to lower; to abase; to humiliate.abstruse
English
Adjective
(en-adj)- O who is he that could carrie newes to our olde father, that thou wert but aliue, although thou wert hidden in the most abstruse dungeons of Barbarie; for his riches, my brothers and mine would fetch thee from thence.
- The eternal eye whose sight discerns abstrusest thoughts.
- ...at the end of his cogitacions, fyndithe more abstruse , and doutfull obiections then at the beginning...
- It is certain that the easy and obvious philosophy will always, with the generality of mankind, have the preference above the accurate and abstruse ;
- Profound and abstruse topics.
Usage notes
* More abstruse and most abstruse are the preferred forms over abstruser and abstrusest.Derived terms
* abstrusely * abstrusenessReferences
External links
* * ----humble
English
(Webster 1913)Etymology 1
From (etyl) . See homage, and compare chameleon, humiliate.Adjective
(er)- Thy humble nest built on the ground. -Cowley.
citation, page= , passage=Rosol's 65 winners to Nadal's 41 was one of the crucial statistics in the 3hr 18min match that ended in a 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 triumph labelled a "miracle" by Rosol, who was humble enough to offer commiserations to Nadal.}}
- God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble . Jas. iv. 6.
- She should be humble who would please. -Prior.
- Without a humble imitation of the divine Author of our . . . religion we can never hope to be a happy nation. -Washington.
Synonyms
* See alsoDerived terms
* humble plant * eat humble pieVerb
(en-verb)- Here, take this purse, thou whom the heaven's plagues have humbled to all strokes. -Shak.
- The genius which humbled six marshals of France. -Macaulay.
- Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you. 1 Pet. Ch 5: v. 6.
Derived terms
* humbler (agent noun)Synonyms
* abase, lower, depress, humiliate, mortify, disgrace, degradeEtymology 2
Compare hummel.Adjective
(-)- humble cattle