obscure

comparative obscurer · comparative more obscure · superlative obscurest · superlative most obscure

1. Dark, faint or indistinct.

   I found myself in an obscure wood.

   1892, Denton Jaques Snider, Inferno, 1, 1-2 (originally by Dante Alighieri)

   1 more example

   His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 20:20

   Synonyms: cimmerian, dingy, fuzzy, ill-defined, adumbral, blear, caliginous, cimmerian · Antonyms: clear, distinct, alight, illuminated, inlighted, lighted, lighty, lit

2. Hidden, out of sight or inconspicuous.

   the obscure corners of the earth

   1606, John Davies of Hereford, Bien Venu

   1 more example

   The obscure bird / Clamoured the livelong night.

   c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]

   Synonyms: occluded, secluded, covered, concealed, dark, dern, hidden, invisible · Antonyms: clear, straightforward, apparent, bare, displayed, distinct, evident, exposed

3. Difficult to understand; abstruse.

   an obscure passage or inscription; The speaker made obscure references to little-known literary works.

   2 more examples

   The lock was of a kind that Watt could not pick. Watt could pick simple locks, but he could not pick obscure locks.

   1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC

   The yawning gap in neuroscientists’ understanding of their topic is in the intermediate scale of the brain’s anatomy. Science has a passable knowledge of how individual nerve cells, known as neurons, work. It also knows which visible lobes and ganglia of the brain do what. But how the neurons are organised in these lobes and ganglia remains obscure.

   2013 August 3, “The machine of a new soul”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847

   Synonyms: fathomless, inscrutable, abstruse, Chinese, dense, enigmatic, fathomless, bottomless · Antonyms: clear, apprehensible, clear, limpid, comprehensible, explainable, explicable, explicatable

4. Not well-known.

   i need to be REALLY careful to not use any obscure words. otherwise my tweets might end up on a wiktionary page

   2024 August 4, @rainbowresort_, “Archived copy”, in Twitter, archived from the original on 05 Aug 2024

   1 more example

   Of all the medical monsters Peter Hotez could have set out to slay, the Yale University researcher could not have chosen a more wily and obscure villain than the hookworm.

   1996 October 6, William Hathaway, “PARASITE LINKS MEN IN DARING VENTURE”, in Hartford Courant, archived from the original on 08 Jul 2021

   Synonyms: enigmatic, esoteric, mysterious, arcane, dark, enigmatic, esoteric, mystic · Antonyms: accessible, open, well-known, bait, fabled, famed, famous, famoused

5. Unknown or uncertain; unclear.

   The etymological roots of the word "blizzard" are obscure and open to debate.

   Synonyms: ignote, unascertained, undiscovered, ignote, knownless, strange, unascertained, unapprehended · Antonyms: clear, known, accustomed, acquainted, familiar, habitual, known, predictable

present singular third person obscures · participle present obscuring · participle past obscured · past obscured

1. transitiveTo render obscure; to darken; to make dim; to keep in the dark; to hide; to make less visible, intelligible, legible, glorious, beautiful, or illustrious.

   c. 1688', William Wake, Preparation for Death There is scarce any duty which has been so obscured in the writings of learned men as this.

   1 more example

   They are all couched in a pit hard by Herne's oak, with obscured lights.

   c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]

   Synonyms: becloud, bedarken, bedim, bemist · Antonyms: belight, beshine, alight, belight, beshine, bright, enlighten, fire

2. transitiveTo hide, put out of sight etc.

   I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity.

   1994, Bill Watterson, Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat, page 62

   3 more examples

   It has been little altered over the years save for the addition of a platform awning which rather obscures the arcaded entrance to the booking hall.

   1957 August 28, H. P. White, “The Tonbridge-Hastings Line and its Traffic”, in Railway Magazine, page 529

   But Richmond[…]appeared to lose himself in his own reflections. Some pickled crab, which he had not touched, had been removed with a damson pie; and his sister saw, peeping around the massive silver epergne that almost obscured him from her view, that he had eaten no more than a spoonful of that either.

   1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax

   However, many people—including railwaymen—are only beginning to realise how great is the amount of civil engineering work necessary to achieve adequate clearances for high-voltage overhead equipment under bridges and tunnels; what is involved in the re-signalling needed to permit the increased throughput of traffic (in some places it is unavoidable, to afford better sighting of signals obscured by overhead electrical gear); [...].

   1961 December, “Planning the London Midland main-line electrification”, in Trains Illustrated, page 719

   Synonyms: conceal, occult, secrete, obliterate · Antonyms: disclose, reveal, show, bare, bewray, betray, display, expose

3. intransitiveobsoleteTo conceal oneself; to hide.

   How! There's bad news. / I must obscure, and hear it.

   1623 (first performance), John Fletcher, William Rowley, “The Maid in the Mill”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act IV, scene ii

   Synonyms: hide out, keep a low profile, lie low · Antonyms: appear, show up