What's the difference between abstruse and abysmal?

Abstruse


Definition:

  • (a.) Concealed or hidden out of the way.
  • (a.) Remote from apprehension; difficult to be comprehended or understood; recondite; as, abstruse learning.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Ed Miliband should be out and proud about his abstruse interests, his Masters in economics, his political obsession, his prioritising of the mental over the physical.
  • (2) Britain's sodden fields mean the debate about climate change is now no longer confined to some abstruse problem affecting glaciers in far-off countries.
  • (3) As if to underline how far leftfield Radiohead have subsequently shifted, it's followed by the instrumental Feral, which in its live incarnation – scattered rhythms overlaid with echoing vocal loops and waves of electronic noise – is arguably the most abstruse and uncommercial piece of music you're ever likely to hear booming around an arena venue.
  • (4) At its best, British public service broadcasting wants to share the best with everyone, it takes topics or themes which may seem abstruse or unapproachable – the science of the solar system, what you can learn about civilisation through physical artefacts – and then brings them to life with such conviction and creativity that they reach deep across a society.
  • (5) Thus the abstruse nomenclature in common use is avoided.
  • (6) Innovative dance music is still being made, but it exists almost entirely out of the realm of the charts: for all its ground-breaking brilliance, there have been few takers among the mainstream record-buyers for the new, deliberately abstruse, genre of "grime".
  • (7) I think the most abstruse one we've put in here is ferkidoodle."
  • (8) The lawyer among them, the ever resourceful Markus C Kerber, probably came up with the abstruse idea of supporting their case by quoting the right to resistance.
  • (9) Filesharing tools have gone from the primitive, easily monitored and abstruse (IRC or the early Napster) to a very easy, attack-resistant architecture that was built in response to entertainment industry attacks.
  • (10) Or perhaps it's just a load of bumwash with wilfully abstruse bells on.
  • (11) In a less abstruse way, Twitter has already shown itself to be a useful conduit for circumventing legal or governmental censorship.
  • (12) The origins of this type of aberrant maternal behavior remain abstruse, as do the long-term psychological effects on the child victims.
  • (13) Shenouda's hundred books and countless sermons untangled abstruse dogma in a straightforward way.
  • (14) If it sounds a little abstruse, by the way, to try to solve the feminist framing of the ancient Greeks, the idea of a sex strike has reappeared more recently, in fiction if not in fact.
  • (15) For the lay person attempting to referee the row, and having to interpret such abstruse concepts as the Gini coefficient and, as Gaffney neatly summarises, whether "the r > g inequality is amplifying the reconcentration trend", illumination is hard to discern.
  • (16) For children about to undergo surgery and for their families, anxiety caused by the abstruse procedure and the child's separation can provoke a crisis.
  • (17) Whereas the effects of Fadenoperation on adduction incomitance are perfectly clear, those on the deviation in primary position still remain very abstruse.
  • (18) This manuscript is concerned with concepts rather than abstruse details or mathematics.
  • (19) Model theory is a branch of mathematics that treats such abstruse questions as "is there another number system, different from 0,1,2, ... that satisfies all the axioms of arithmetic?"

Abysmal


Definition:

  • (a.) Pertaining to, or resembling, an abyss; bottomless; unending; profound.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) "As a stylist Brown gets better and better: where once he was abysmal he is now just very poor," wrote Jake Kerridge in the Daily Telegraph .
  • (2) In fact, the general standard of new architecture here is, sadly, abysmal.
  • (3) That the host defenses may be somewhat enhanced by pregnancy while susceptibility to certain diseases is increased is paradoxical and serves to underscore the fact that our understanding of host defense in pregnancy is abysmally deficient.
  • (4) Even with no strikes, Southern’s public performance measures remain abysmal by most standards, with only 70% of trains running to within five minutes of their advertised time on Tuesday.
  • (5) Richard Di Natale, the Greens leader and Victorian senator, said it was likely the final make-up of the Senate would not be known for weeks, but that the result, already, had been an “abysmal failure” for the government.
  • (6) "Please ignore the abysmal example set by President Obama who, in the name of Thanksgiving, supports torture as 45 million birds are horrifically abused; dragged through electrified stun baths, and then have their throats slit.
  • (7) "This law has the potential to make Afghanistan an absolute abysmal catastrophe as it relates to public order, rule of law and general common decency."
  • (8) Newcastle’s manager responded by replacing Yoan Gouffran, abysmal in central midfield, with Emmanuel Rivière as he switched from 4-1-4-1 to 4-4-2.
  • (9) A second delivery review team visit in September was told by Lorenzo's deputy head of testing that test results were "abysmal".
  • (10) That public policy has abysmally failed the chronically mentally ill seems beyond genuine dispute.
  • (11) The abysmal condition of nutrition in India, both undernutrition and overnutrition , has crept into the global development agenda recently, with increasing focus from academics, policymakers and activists.
  • (12) That first half was abysmal, a complete disgrace, but this is much improved fare.
  • (13) And given the abysmal farce of the AV referendum, the very last people to listen to on the timing and terms of a referendum would be the Lib Dems."
  • (14) The whole French team, their coac h, Raymond Domenech, and the French football federation are just abysmally stupid.
  • (15) The criticism reached a crescendo in January when the BBC's Inside Out broadcast a report claiming the wages being paid to workers at Kibale were 'abysmal' and that viewers would do better to reduce their own carbon emissions than to buy offsets.
  • (16) Even with several office jobs and internships under my belt, my job prospects looked abysmal.
  • (17) To allow someone into the UK who is explicitly promoting these things is abysmal.” A social media campaign against Blanc has gathered pace in recent days, with Twitter users sharing pictures of him with his hand around the throats of women that he has shared using the hashtag #ChokingGirlsAroundTheWorld.
  • (18) Despite monumental pent-up demand for more housing in London, there isn’t enough being built – and because the volume house builders don’t care about architecture, community life or civic space, the quality of new housing is generally abysmal.
  • (19) So while it might have other merits, it is surely wrong for TfL to issue a blank cheque, particularly given the financial pressures they face from the chancellor.” Authors, architects and artists line up to lambast ‘abysmal’ garden bridge plan Read more Peck also cited Khan’s lack of support for the bridge between Temple and the South Bank.
  • (20) To this extent, Khomeini's edict and the murderous campaign it engendered failed abysmally.