Irrecondite

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Signifying information or ideas that are challenging to comprehend Pertaining to topics that are not broadly familiar or recognized Relating to knowledge that is intricate and often exclusive in nature
2. Describes something that is hard to grasp due to its complexity or rarity
3. Refers to matters that are not easily explained because they involve specialized or hidden details

Etymology: "Irrecondite" is simply "recondite" with the prefix "ir-" attached, so its history is a matter of two parts. The prefix "ir-" is the form of "in-" (meaning "not") used before a word beginning with "r", so the sense is "not recondite." "Recondite" comes from the Latin "reconditus," the past participle of "recondere," meaning "to put away" or "to hide," built from "re-" (back) and "condere" (to put together, store). A recondite thing is therefore one that has been stored away out of sight, and only someone who goes looking will find it. Because "irrecondite" is the negated form of that idea, it describes something that is hard to grasp, whether from its complexity or its rarity. The word is much rarer than its base, and it reads most naturally as a playful or deliberately heavy alternative to "difficult" or "obscure."

Synonyms: esoteric, abstruse, obscure

Antonyms: obvious, clear, simple