難解(なんかい)

なんかい
na-adjective
difficult to understand; abstruse
formalwrittendescriptive
1. difficult to understand; abstruse; obscure
Describes something that is hard to comprehend due to complexity, abstraction, or specialized content. Used for texts, theories, concepts, and similar intellectual material.
この本(ほん)は難解(なんかい)だ。
This book is difficult to understand.
難解(なんかい)な文章(ぶんしょう)を何度(なんど)も読(よ)み返(かえ)した。
I reread the abstruse passage many times.
哲学(てつがく)の論文(ろんぶん)は難解(なんかい)な用語(ようご)が多(おお)くて、専門家(せんもんか)でも理解(りかい)に苦(くる)しむことがある。
Philosophy papers contain so much abstruse terminology that even experts sometimes struggle to understand them.

Formation: 難(なん) (difficult) + 解(かい) (understand, solve). Literally 'difficult to solve.'

Usage: 難解(なんかい) is a somewhat formal word, commonly used in written Japanese and academic contexts. It modifies nouns with な.

Common collocations

Similar words

  • 難解(なんかい): emphasizes intellectual difficulty of comprehension
  • 難(むずか)しい: general-purpose 'difficult' (broader usage)
  • 複雑(ふくざつ): complex, complicated (focuses on structural complexity)

Related Words

Compare: 難(むずか)しい (general-purpose 'difficult')
Compare: 複雑(ふくざつ) (complex, complicated)
general
Added 2026.3.5 19:19 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:01
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