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Abstruse vs Opaque - What's the difference?

abstruse | opaque |

As adjectives the difference between abstruse and opaque

is that abstruse is concealed or hidden out of the way; secret while opaque is neither reflecting nor emitting light.

As a noun opaque is

an area of darkness; a place or region with no light.

As a verb opaque is

to make, render (more) opaque.

abstruse

English

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • (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:
  • 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.
  • * 1667 , , Paradise Lost :
  • The eternal eye whose sight discerns abstrusest thoughts.
  • 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:
  • ...at the end of his cogitacions, fyndithe more abstruse , and doutfull obiections then at the beginning...
  • * 1748 , David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. ยง 13.
  • It is certain that the easy and obvious philosophy will always, with the generality of mankind, have the preference above the accurate and abstruse ;
  • * 1855 , , History of Latin Christianity :
  • Profound and abstruse topics.

    Usage notes

    * More abstruse and most abstruse are the preferred forms over abstruser and abstrusest.

    Derived terms

    * abstrusely * abstruseness

    References

    opaque

    English

    (wikipedia opaque)

    Alternative forms

    * opake

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Neither reflecting nor emitting light.
  • Allowing little light to pass through, not translucent or transparent.
  • (figuratively) Unclear, unintelligible, hard to get or explain the meaning of
  • (figuratively) Obtuse, stupid.
  • (computing) Describes a type for which higher-level callers have no knowledge of data values or their representations; all operations are carried out by the type's defined abstract operators.
  • Antonyms

    * (physically) see-through, translucent, transparent * (figuratively) clear, obvious, bright, brilliant

    Usage notes

    * The comparative opaquer and superlative opaquest, though formed following valid rules for English, are much less common than more opaque' and ' most opaque and seem to occur more frequently in poetry.

    Derived terms

    * opaquely * opaqueness * radiopaque

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete, poetic) An area of darkness; a place or region with no light.
  • * 1745 , Edward Young, Night-Thoughts , I:
  • Through this opaque of Nature and of Soul, / This double night, transmit one pitying ray, / To lighten, and to cheer.
  • Something which is opaque rather than translucent.
  • Verb

  • To make, render (more) opaque.
  • Synonyms

    * blur * cloud

    See also

    * translucent

    References

    * * ----