What is the word for something I am reading that is difficult to understand, maybe purposefully so? I would prefer an adjective.
asked Nov 3, 2016 at 14:08
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Hard nut to crack– V.V.Commented Nov 3, 2016 at 14:15
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2Do you want a noun or an adjective?– J. SiebeneichlerCommented Nov 3, 2016 at 15:11
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How about convoluted?– Richard KayserCommented Nov 3, 2016 at 15:17
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I think the closest slang to what I'm referring to is 'deep'– Chibueze OpataCommented Nov 3, 2016 at 15:37
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@J.Siebeneichler An adjective preferably.– Chibueze OpataCommented Nov 3, 2016 at 15:37
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5 Answers
There are several possibilities, but I would go with abstruse.
An adjective describing complex, impenetrable text. It can be applied to both deliberately obfuscated text and to badly written verbiage.
answered Nov 3, 2016 at 14:25
If someone were to purposefully write something so to make it difficult to understand, they may be obfuscating the passage. (Obfuscate at Merriam-Webster)
Delphic - obscure and ambiguous (in the nature of the responses of the Delphic oracle). (OED)
Cryptic is an option. It can be used to describe not only text that is difficult to understand but also text that may be purposefully obscure.
difficult to understand : having or seeming to have a hidden meaning
"Although I enjoyed much of his earlier work, I did at times find it hard to make sense of his cryptic ramblings."
You could use the word opaque. This doesn't quite address whether it was written this way purposely, however. Some of the other suggestions here propose words that suggest multiple, hidden, or ambiguous meanings, while this one indicates text so difficult to comprehend that it's hard to extract any meaning.
opaque - (especially of language) hard or impossible to understand; unfathomable.
answered Nov 3, 2016 at 19:19
