Arcane
adjective
Something difficult to understand because it has not been commonly shared or explained.
The ancient philosophers were debating arcane points of theology.
Often appears as...
- arcane rules
- arcane knowledge
Usage tips
Academic
adjective
Something difficult to understand because it has not been commonly shared or explained.
The ancient philosophers were debating arcane points of theology.
Often appears as...
- arcane rules
- arcane knowledge
Usage tips
Academic
Definition 1 of 1
Pro Tip 1/3Not Common Knowledge
Arcane information isn't known by many people, it's often specialized or hidden.
He had an arcane understanding of the legal system that baffled most students.
Pro Tip 2/3Context Clues
To grasp arcane content, look for context clues that can unveil its meaning.
The manuscript was full of arcane language, but the illustrations helped decipher it.
Pro Tip 3/3Unfamiliar Usage
Arcane might be used to describe something not just old, but unfamiliar or complex.
The mechanic used arcane terms to explain the engine's problem.
Pro Tip 1/3Not Common Knowledge
Arcane information isn't known by many people, it's often specialized or hidden.
He had an arcane understanding of the legal system that baffled most students.
Pro Tip 2/3Context Clues
To grasp arcane content, look for context clues that can unveil its meaning.
The manuscript was full of arcane language, but the illustrations helped decipher it.
Pro Tip 3/3Unfamiliar Usage
Arcane might be used to describe something not just old, but unfamiliar or complex.
The mechanic used arcane terms to explain the engine's problem.
Pro Tip 1/3Not Common Knowledge
Arcane information isn't known by many people, it's often specialized or hidden.
He had an arcane understanding of the legal system that baffled most students.
Pro Tip 2/3Context Clues
To grasp arcane content, look for context clues that can unveil its meaning.
The manuscript was full of arcane language, but the illustrations helped decipher it.
Pro Tip 3/3Unfamiliar Usage
Arcane might be used to describe something not just old, but unfamiliar or complex.
The mechanic used arcane terms to explain the engine's problem.
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Video examples
Titan of terror: the...
But perhaps the greatest power these creatures had was their appeal to Lovecraft’s contemporaries. During his lifetime, Lovecraft corresponded with other writers, encouraging them to employ elements and characters from his stories in their own. References to Lovecraftian gods or arcane tomes can be found in many stories by his pen pals,
Video examples
The best teams have this...
world today I like to think I I made him a little bit better with some loose some arcane math humility is underrated it gets a bad rap it sounds like a sign of weakness but in the best teams with the best leaders is actually a source of strength it keeps us from best-of from resting on our laurels because we know
Video examples
Rethinking media PIPE Ted...
us so that would be controversies over privacy rules on facebook or those arcane itunes user agreements that you just click on and not having any idea what they actually say or it could be the gamification of just about everything from dating to wealth
Video examples
Karen Armstrong: Let's...
Because we can change the world, we have the ability. I would never have thought of putting the Charter online. I was still stuck in the old world of a whole bunch of boffins sitting together in a room and issuing yet another arcane statement.
Video examples
Ronald Rael: An...
And like with all research projects, there are successes and there are failures. But it's these medieval reactions to the wall -- drawbridges, for example -- that are because the wall itself is an arcane, medieval form of architecture.
Video examples
Averting the climate...
with my active involvement -- the leading software writers in the world, on this arcane science of carbon calculation, to construct a consumer-friendly carbon calculator. You can very precisely calculate what your CO2 emissions are,
Video examples
John Marshall: 3...
This is about going beyond arcane policy language into language that we all intuitively get. That's the first understanding. But understanding without relevance is rudderless. So the second key then
Video examples
Shereen El-Feki: How to...
The law, on the other hand, can seem remote, arcane, the stuff of specialists, but it isn't. Because for those of us who live in democracies, or in aspiring democracies, the law begins with us.
Video examples
The Great Migration and...
It was an artificial hierarchy in which everything that you could and could not do was based upon what you looked like. This caste system was so arcane that it was actually against the law
Video examples
Averting the climate...
crisis dotnet there is a carbon calculator participant productions convened with my active involvement the leading software writers in the world on this arcane science of carbon
Video examples
Titan of terror: the...
But perhaps the greatest power these creatures had was their appeal to Lovecraft’s contemporaries. During his lifetime, Lovecraft corresponded with other writers, encouraging them to employ elements and characters from his stories in their own. References to Lovecraftian gods or arcane tomes can be found in many stories by his pen pals,
Video examples
The best teams have this...
world today I like to think I I made him a little bit better with some loose some arcane math humility is underrated it gets a bad rap it sounds like a sign of weakness but in the best teams with the best leaders is actually a source of strength it keeps us from best-of from resting on our laurels because we know
Video examples
Rethinking media PIPE Ted...
us so that would be controversies over privacy rules on facebook or those arcane itunes user agreements that you just click on and not having any idea what they actually say or it could be the gamification of just about everything from dating to wealth
Video examples
Karen Armstrong: Let's...
Because we can change the world, we have the ability. I would never have thought of putting the Charter online. I was still stuck in the old world of a whole bunch of boffins sitting together in a room and issuing yet another arcane statement.
Video examples
Ronald Rael: An...
And like with all research projects, there are successes and there are failures. But it's these medieval reactions to the wall -- drawbridges, for example -- that are because the wall itself is an arcane, medieval form of architecture.
Video examples
Averting the climate...
with my active involvement -- the leading software writers in the world, on this arcane science of carbon calculation, to construct a consumer-friendly carbon calculator. You can very precisely calculate what your CO2 emissions are,
Video examples
John Marshall: 3...
This is about going beyond arcane policy language into language that we all intuitively get. That's the first understanding. But understanding without relevance is rudderless. So the second key then
Video examples
Shereen El-Feki: How to...
The law, on the other hand, can seem remote, arcane, the stuff of specialists, but it isn't. Because for those of us who live in democracies, or in aspiring democracies, the law begins with us.
Video examples
The Great Migration and...
It was an artificial hierarchy in which everything that you could and could not do was based upon what you looked like. This caste system was so arcane that it was actually against the law
Video examples
Averting the climate...
crisis dotnet there is a carbon calculator participant productions convened with my active involvement the leading software writers in the world on this arcane science of carbon
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Robert Pinsky
American Poet
For a lot of people, well-meaning teaching has made poetry seem arcane, difficult, a kind of brown-knotting medicine that might be good for you but doesn't taste so good. So I tried to make a collection of poetry that would be fun. And that would bring out poetry as an art, rather than the challenge to say smart things.
Quote examples
Michael Dirda
American Critic
The only kind of notebook I actively dislike is the steno pad, entirely because of that vertical line down the middle of the page. I presume it has some arcane secretarial use, but to me, it's both ugly and confusing.
Quote examples
Lydia Millet
American Novelist
The question of one versus two species of African elephants isn't about settling an arcane DNA argument; it's about life or death for these majestic, extraordinary creatures.
Quote examples
Al Gore
American Vice President
There is an air of unreality in debating these arcane points when the world is changing in such dramatic ways right in front of our eyes because of global warming.
Quote examples
Stephen Jay Gould
American Scientist
Science is an integral part of culture. It's not this foreign thing, done by an arcane priesthood. It's one of the glories of the human intellectual tradition.
Quote examples
Charles Bass
American Politician
For four years, I listened to stories of intelligence failures, and it wasn't due to incompetence of anyone in the system, but that the system is so arcane.
Quote examples
Israel Horovitz
American Playwright
L.A. is so focused on TV and film that theater is kind of an arcane sport. People look at you like you're doing something cute.
Quote examples
Elizabeth Blackburn
Australian Scientist
Biology sometimes reveals its fundamental principles through what may seem at first to be arcane and bizarre.
Quote examples
Khalil Gibran
Lebanese Poet
Art is a step from what is obvious and well-known toward what is arcane and concealed.
Quote examples
Christopher Guest
British Director
I read kind of serious books about fairly arcane subjects.
Quote examples
Robert Pinsky
American Poet
For a lot of people, well-meaning teaching has made poetry seem arcane, difficult, a kind of brown-knotting medicine that might be good for you but doesn't taste so good. So I tried to make a collection of poetry that would be fun. And that would bring out poetry as an art, rather than the challenge to say smart things.
Quote examples
Michael Dirda
American Critic
The only kind of notebook I actively dislike is the steno pad, entirely because of that vertical line down the middle of the page. I presume it has some arcane secretarial use, but to me, it's both ugly and confusing.
Quote examples
Lydia Millet
American Novelist
The question of one versus two species of African elephants isn't about settling an arcane DNA argument; it's about life or death for these majestic, extraordinary creatures.
Quote examples
Al Gore
American Vice President
There is an air of unreality in debating these arcane points when the world is changing in such dramatic ways right in front of our eyes because of global warming.
Quote examples
Stephen Jay Gould
American Scientist
Science is an integral part of culture. It's not this foreign thing, done by an arcane priesthood. It's one of the glories of the human intellectual tradition.
Quote examples
Charles Bass
American Politician
For four years, I listened to stories of intelligence failures, and it wasn't due to incompetence of anyone in the system, but that the system is so arcane.
Quote examples
Israel Horovitz
American Playwright
L.A. is so focused on TV and film that theater is kind of an arcane sport. People look at you like you're doing something cute.
Quote examples
Elizabeth Blackburn
Australian Scientist
Biology sometimes reveals its fundamental principles through what may seem at first to be arcane and bizarre.
Quote examples
Khalil Gibran
Lebanese Poet
Art is a step from what is obvious and well-known toward what is arcane and concealed.
Quote examples
Christopher Guest
British Director
I read kind of serious books about fairly arcane subjects.
Example 1 of 10
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