1
as in esoteric
difficult for one of ordinary knowledge or intelligence to understand
grammatical rules that seem arcane to generations of students who were never taught grammar in the first place
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in cryptic
having an often intentionally veiled or uncertain meaning
the rebate form uses arcane language, the only purpose of which seems to be to disqualify buyers from actually getting a rebate
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in mysterious
being beyond one's powers to know, understand, or explain
my predecessor in this job obviously had his own arcane system for filing things, and so I haven't a clue as to where anything is
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Recent Examples of arcane
Most projects only calculate technical metrics—precision, recall, AUC, F-score and other arcane measures—that reveal little to nothing about the potential business value.
—
Eric Siegel, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025
The obfuscation feels like the point, an attempt to make the Count seem truly arcane and unsettling again after a century of filmic depictions.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 24 Dec. 2024
The mind-teasers here require real out-of-the-box thinking, careful observation of the smallest environmental details, and multi-step deciphering of arcane codes.
—Ars Technica, 22 Dec. 2024
Related Articles Mercy is a good thing, sometimes The decline in fentanyl ODs nationally
Lessons from the ugly Korematsu decision
Trump backs port union’s arcane goals
It’s been immersed in scandal as state and county oversight reports have shown.
—The Editorial Board, Orange County Register, 19 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for arcane 
Eric Siegel, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025
The obfuscation feels like the point, an attempt to make the Count seem truly arcane and unsettling again after a century of filmic depictions.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 24 Dec. 2024
The mind-teasers here require real out-of-the-box thinking, careful observation of the smallest environmental details, and multi-step deciphering of arcane codes.
—Ars Technica, 22 Dec. 2024
Related Articles Mercy is a good thing, sometimes The decline in fentanyl ODs nationally
Lessons from the ugly Korematsu decision
Trump backs port union’s arcane goals
It’s been immersed in scandal as state and county oversight reports have shown.
—The Editorial Board, Orange County Register, 19 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for arcane
Recent Examples of Synonyms for arcane
Adjective
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With athletic directors increasingly consumed by revenue generation, schools are relying more and more on outside firms to help fill holes up and down their staff directories, from Olympic sports coaches to even more esoteric positions.—
Daniel Libit,
Sportico.com,
16 Jan. 2025
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Certainly, the many other bravura moments of The Return suggest a storyteller with enough juice to make even his most fanciful, esoteric ideas and characters into reality.—
Alan Sepinwall,
Rolling Stone,
16 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Both Trista and Ryan were in the news over the summer after Ryan posted cryptic messages on his Instagram account.—
Sara Vallone,
Miami Herald,
16 Jan. 2025
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Then, a hacker breaks in, posts a cryptic message, and triggers Wentworth's expanding investigation into a global struggle over truth and information.—
Eric Berger,
Ars Technica,
16 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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The mysterious news promised by the Grammy winner was initially set to go live on Tuesday (Jan. 14).—
DeMicia Inman,
VIBE.com,
15 Jan. 2025
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Read more Map shows LeBron James' home surrounded by Los Angeles fires Bill Skarsgård's mysterious Count Orlok unveiled in new look at Nosferatu California wildfires push insurance crisis to 'new level' Newsweek has contacted PomegranateDry4848 comment via Reddit.—
Michael Gfoeller And David H. Rundell,
Newsweek,
15 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued an important update to its rules under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and the implications are profound.—
David Gasparyan,
Forbes,
23 Jan. 2025
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James Kariuki, the United Kingdom’s deputy permanent representative to the U.N., said Haiti’s violence and political instability are having a profound effect on Haitians.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
23 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Below, Gersten opens up about her reaction to Anderson’s casting, the meaning behind the purposefully ambiguous ending, Curtis’ memorable dance number, and more.—
Mike Miller,
EW.com,
11 Jan. 2025
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When a statute is ambiguous, Congress has left a gap for the agency to fill.—
Stuart Anderson,
Forbes,
9 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Healy Lake members have long considered their dogs to be mystic companions, according to Combs.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
4 Dec. 2024
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But there is also the slow minimalism of Morton Feldman and the manic yet patient seeking of Italy’s mystic count Giacinto Scelsi, in the twentieth century.—
The New Yorker,
The New Yorker,
6 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Both parties have spent much of the 21st century using what had been obscure procedural tactics to delay or slowly derail presidential nominees for Cabinet posts, regulatory agency boards and federal judgeships.—
Ed O'Keefe,
CBS News,
22 Jan. 2025
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The recent wildfires shine a spotlight on an obscure firefighting charity.—
Hunter Clauss,
Los Angeles Times,
21 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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The video brings to mind the claims made in Mark Fisher’s Capitalist Realism, in which Fisher proposed that capitalism has the uncanny ability to subsume all critiques into itself.—
Dani Di Placido,
Forbes,
20 Jan. 2025
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When spending time with them, Brunelle observed uncanny similarities in their behavior and interests.—
David Faris,
Newsweek,
18 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near arcane
Cite this Entry
“Arcane.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/arcane. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.
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