Recondite

Rec on dite


adj

1) Hidden from sight : concealed

This is a satisfying word to say, recondite! My first impulse would be to apply it to a rigid sort of context.The recondite details of politics can be confusing for voters. Ostensively the word sounds quite formal and unpoetic, but its connotation is much broader.


2) Difficult or impossible for one of ordinary understanding or knowledge to comprehend : Deep

 “An African native forest is a mysterious region. You ride into the depths of an old tapestry, in places faded and in others darkened with age, but marvelously rich in green shades. You cannot see the sky at all in there, but the sunlight plays in many strange ways, falling through the foliage. The grey fungus, like long drooping beards, on the trees, and the creepers hanging down everywhere, give a recondite air to the native forest.”- From Out of Africa, Isak Dinesen


3) Of, relating to, or dealing with something little known or obscure <recondite fact about the origin of the holiday>

The word in and of itself is recondite in this context. I don’t think I have ever heard someone use it before actually. I do however know a History major, who recently informed me that there is a real place called Hard Times, Mississippi, which had something to do with the battle of Vicksburg. People that poses historical knowledge in this kind of detail are obscure indeed. With a little more research I discovered that the place Hard Times is also mentioned in the opening line of a Steve Wonder song. My assumption would be that this piece of trivia is considerably less recondite than the former. 



Definitions courtesy of Merriam Webster