Recondite is an adjective that means unknown or abstruse.

Coming from the Latin word reconditus (ray con DEE toose) which means ‘hidden’ or ‘put away,’ our word of the day has been with us since the mid-17th century. In more recent years, it is likely to refer to knowledge or information that is not well known. Here’s an example:

Although I enjoyed the poetry class I took last year, it was a little tough to keep up with it without a familiarity of obscure texts from the past. Because I didn’t have much recondite knowledge, I wound up not learning much from the class.