abstruse

Preposition: in

part: Turned out to be good after all, albeit rambling and abstruse in parts.

Modifies a noun

• point: It's clever, fun and makes a fairly abstruse point very neatly.
• problem: The range of subjects offered is exceptionally wide: you can learn about everything from black holes to the most abstruse problems in logic.
• calculation: We are having to make assumptions and abstruse calculations from what may well be imperfect data.
• subject: The poor old fellow used to be plagued by many who were curious to ascertain his opinion upon abstruse subjects.
• term: These abstruse terms can be illustrated most simply by diagrams.
• argument: Appeal No 8. It seems a fairly abstruse argument presented by the players.

Modifying Another Word

• too: The subject is too abstruse to enlarge further upon here.
• very: Avoid, at one extreme, explaining very elementary things and, at the other, not explaining very abstruse things.
• rather: Attendance at the March lecture surprised our lecturer, Clive Rouse, who considered the subject rather abstruse.
• fairly: Appeal No 8. It seems a fairly abstruse argument presented by the players.
• often: His ability to render the often abstruse philosophical arguments of Shankara into comprehensible and readable English is without parallel in my experience.
• little: Until last week, that point may have seemed a little abstruse.

Used with adjective complement

seem: The machinations over the budget and over agriculture seem abstruse.