abstrus

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from LatinCategory:French terms borrowed from Latin#ABSTRUSCategory:French learned borrowings from Latin#ABSTRUSCategory:French terms derived from Latin#ABSTRUS abstrūsus, perfect passive participle of abstrūdō.

Pronunciation

Adjective

abstrus (feminine abstruse, masculine plural abstrus, feminine plural abstruses)Category:French lemmas#ABSTRUSCategory:French adjectives#ABSTRUSCategory:French entries with incorrect language header#ABSTRUSCategory:Pages with entries#ABSTRUSCategory:Pages with 4 entries#ABSTRUS

  1. (literaryCategory:French literary terms#ABSTRUS, derogatoryCategory:French derogatory terms#ABSTRUS) abstruse
    Synonym: abscons

Further reading

German

Etymology

Borrowed from LatinCategory:German terms borrowed from Latin#ABSTRUSCategory:German terms derived from Latin#ABSTRUS abstrūsus. The alternative meaning of "absurd" is likely a result of contamination from absurd itself, both often being used in similar contexts.

Pronunciation

Adjective

abstrus (strong nominative masculine singular abstruser, comparative abstruser, superlative am abstrusesten)Category:German lemmas#ABSTRUSCategory:German adjectives#ABSTRUSCategory:German entries with incorrect language header#ABSTRUSCategory:Pages with entries#ABSTRUSCategory:Pages with 4 entries#ABSTRUS

  1. difficult to follow or comprehend, abstruse
    Synonym: verworren
  2. (somewhat proscribedCategory:German proscribed terms#ABSTRUS) absurd, nonsensical, very implausible (especially of claims, ideas)
    Synonyms: absurd, unsinnig, widersinnig, abwegig
    • 2012 December 11, Haluka Maier-Borst, “Erdlinge könnten länger existieren als gedacht”, in Zeit ONLINE‎, archived from the original on 5 March 2025:
      Die abstruse Vision von einem Umzug zum nächsten bewohnbaren Planeten bleibt für die Menschheit deshalb weiterhin kein leichtes Unterfangen.
      So the far-fetched vision of moving to the next inhabitable planet will remain quite a challenging endeavor for humanity.
      Category:German terms with quotations#ABSTRUS

Usage notes

  • While occasionally proscribed, the sense of "absurd" is the more common one in everyday usage, especially when talking about claims and ideas.

Declension

Comparative forms of abstrus
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
predicative er ist abstruser sie ist abstruser es ist abstruser sie sind abstruser
strong declension
(without article)		 nominative abstruserer abstrusere abstruseres abstrusere
genitive abstruseren abstruserer abstruseren abstruserer
dative abstruserem abstruserer abstruserem abstruseren
accusative abstruseren abstrusere abstruseres abstrusere
weak declension
(with definite article)		 nominative der abstrusere die abstrusere das abstrusere die abstruseren
genitive des abstruseren der abstruseren des abstruseren der abstruseren
dative dem abstruseren der abstruseren dem abstruseren den abstruseren
accusative den abstruseren die abstrusere das abstrusere die abstruseren
mixed declension
(with indefinite article)		 nominative ein abstruserer eine abstrusere ein abstruseres (keine) abstruseren
genitive eines abstruseren einer abstruseren eines abstruseren (keiner) abstruseren
dative einem abstruseren einer abstruseren einem abstruseren (keinen) abstruseren
accusative einen abstruseren eine abstrusere ein abstruseres (keine) abstruseren

Adverb

abstrusCategory:German lemmas#ABSTRUSCategory:German adverbs#ABSTRUSCategory:German entries with incorrect language header#ABSTRUSCategory:Pages with entries#ABSTRUSCategory:Pages with 4 entries#ABSTRUS

  1. abstrusely

Further reading

  • “abstrus” in Duden online
  • “abstrus” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from FrenchCategory:Romanian terms borrowed from French#ABSTRUSCategory:Romanian terms derived from French#ABSTRUS abstrus.

Adjective

abstrus m or n (feminine singular abstrusă, masculine plural abstruși, feminine/neuter plural abstruse)Category:Romanian lemmas#ABSTRUSCategory:Romanian adjectives#ABSTRUSCategory:Romanian entries with incorrect language header#ABSTRUSCategory:Pages with entries#ABSTRUSCategory:Pages with 4 entries#ABSTRUS

  1. abstruse

Declension

Declension of abstrus
singular plural
masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
nominative-
accusative 		indefinite abstrus abstrusă abstruși abstruse
definite abstrusul abstrusa abstrușii abstrusele
genitive-
dative 		indefinite abstrus abstruse abstruși abstruse
definite abstrusului abstrusei abstrușilor abstruselor

Swedish

Etymology

From LatinCategory:Swedish terms borrowed from Latin#ABSTRUSCategory:Swedish terms derived from Latin#ABSTRUS abstrusus.

Adjective

abstrus (comparative abstrusare, superlative abstrusast)Category:Swedish lemmas#ABSTRUSCategory:Swedish adjectives#ABSTRUSCategory:Swedish entries with incorrect language header#ABSTRUSCategory:Pages with entries#ABSTRUSCategory:Pages with 4 entries#ABSTRUS

  1. abstruse, difficult to understand
  2. nebulous, obscure, mysterious

Inflection

Inflection of abstrus
Indefinite positive comparative superlative1
common singular abstrus abstrusare abstrusast
neuter singular abstrust abstrusare abstrusast
plural abstrusa abstrusare abstrusast
masculine plural2 abstruse abstrusare abstrusast
Definite positive comparative superlative
masculine singular3 abstruse abstrusare abstrusaste
all abstrusa abstrusare abstrusaste

1 The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
2 Dated or archaic.
3 Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

References

  • “abstrus”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)

Anagrams

Category:French 2-syllable words Category:French adjectives Category:French derogatory terms Category:French learned borrowings from Latin Category:French lemmas Category:French literary terms Category:French terms borrowed from Latin Category:French terms derived from Latin Category:French terms with IPA pronunciation Category:French terms with audio pronunciation Category:German adjectives Category:German adverbs Category:German lemmas Category:German proscribed terms Category:German terms borrowed from Latin Category:German terms derived from Latin Category:German terms with IPA pronunciation Category:German terms with audio pronunciation Category:German terms with quotations Category:Pages with 4 entries Category:Pages with entries Category:Rhymes:German/uːs Category:Rhymes:German/uːs/2 syllables Category:Romanian adjectives Category:Romanian lemmas Category:Romanian terms borrowed from French Category:Romanian terms derived from French Category:Swedish adjectives Category:Swedish lemmas Category:Swedish terms borrowed from Latin Category:Swedish terms derived from Latin