About The Word Obscure

Bay Area Crosswords

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Obscure

Obscure Meaning & Definition
Obscure Definition And Meaning

What's The Definition Of Obscure?

[adj] not clearly understood or expressed; "an indeterminate turn of phrase"; "an impulse to go off and fight certain obscure battles of his own spirit"-Anatole Broyard; "their descriptions of human behavior become vague, dull, and unclear"- P.A.Sorokin; "vague...forms of speech...have so long passed for mysteries of science"- John Locke
[adj] marked by difficulty of style or expression; "much that was dark is now quite clear to me"; "those who do not appreciate Kafka's work say his style is obscure"
[adj] remote and separate physically or socially; "existed over the centuries as a world apart"; "preserved because they inhabited a place apart"- W.H.Hudson; "tiny isolated villages remote from centers of civilization"; "an obscure village"
[adj] not drawing attention; "an unnoticeable cigarette burn on the carpet"; "an obscure flaw"
[adj] not famous or acclaimed; "an obscure family"; "unsung heroes of the war"
[adj] difficult to find; "hidden valleys"; "a hidden cave"; "an obscure retreat"
[v] make unclear, indistinct, or blurred; "Her remarks confused the debate"
[v] make obscure or unclear; "The distinction was obscured"
[v] make difficult to perceive by sight; "The foliage of the huge tree obscures the view of the lake"
[v] make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or concealing
[v] make less visible or unclear; "The stars are obscured by the clouds"

Synonyms | Synonyms for Obscure: apart(p) | becloud | bedim | befog | benight | blot out | blur | cloud | concealed | confuse | dark | dishonorable | fog | haze over | hidden | hide | incomprehensible | inconspicuous | indeterminate | inglorious | invisible | isolated | mist | obliterate | overcloud | unclear | uncomprehensible | unconnected | unknown | unnoticeable | unsung | vague

Related Terms | Find terms related to Obscure: abstruse | adiaphanous | adumbrate | aleatoric | aleatory | ambiguous | amorphic | amorphous | amphibological | anarchic | anonymous | apply to | arcane | around the bush | back of beyond | baffling | baggy | bandage | beamless | beat about | becloud | beclouded | bedarken | bedazzle | bedim | befog | befogged | beg the question | begloom | belie | bemist | benight | beyond one | bicker | black | black as night | black out | blacken | blanket | blear | bleared | bleary | blind | blind the eyes | blindfold | blobby | block | block the light | blot out | blur | blurred | blurry | boggle | broad | brown | buried | caliginous | camouflage | canopy | cast a shadow | cavil | chance | chancy | chaotic | characterless | choplogic | Cimmerian | clabber up | clear as mud | cloak | close | clothe | cloud | cloud over | cloud up | clouded | cloudy | complex | complicate | complicated | conceal | concealed | confuse | confused | confusing | cope | corrupt | cover | cover up | covered | covert | cowl | crabbed | cramp | cryptic | curtain | dark | dark as night | dark as pitch | darken | darken over | darkling | darksome | daze | dazzle | deform | deprive of sight | devious | difficult | dim | dim out | disguise | dismal | disorder | disordered | disorderly | dissemble | distant | distort | distract attention from | dodge | double-edged | double-faced | doubtful | dubious | dull | dusk | dusky | ebon | ebony | eclipse | eclipsed | encloud | encompass with shadow | enigmatic | enmist | ensconce | enshroud | envelop | equivocal | equivocate | esoteric | evade | evade the issue | excecate | faint | falsify | far | far-off | featureless | feeble | fence | film | filmy | fog | fog up | foggy | foreign | formless | fuliginous | fuzz | fuzzy | garble | garbled | general | glare | gloom | gloomy | gloss over | gouge | grumly | half-seen | half-visible | hard | hard to understand | haze | hazy | hedge | hid | hidden | hide | hit-or-miss | hood | hoodwink | humble | ignotus | ill-defined | illegible | impervious to light | imprecise | in a cloud | in a fog | in eclipse | in purdah | in the wings | inaccessible | inaccurate | inchoate | incoherent | incommunicado | incomprehensible | inconclusive | inconsequential | inconspicuous | indecisive | indefinable | indefinite | indeterminable | indeterminate | indistinct | indistinguishable | inexact | inexplicable | inform | inglorious | inscrutable | insignificant | intransparent | intricate | jumble | jumbled | kaleidoscopic | keep from | keep under cover | knotty | latent | lax | lay on | lay over | little known | lonesome | loose | lowly | low-profile | lumpen | make blind | make uncertain | make unintelligible | mantle | mask | mean | merely glimpsed | mess up | minor | misadvise | misdirect | miseducate | misguide | misinform | misinstruct | mislead | misrepresent | mist | misteach | misty | muddle | muddy | muffle | murk | murky | mysterious | mystic | mystical | mystify | mystifying | nameless | nebulous | night-black | night-clad | night-cloaked | night-dark | night-enshrouded | night-filled | night-mantled | night-veiled | nitpick | no credit to | nondescript | nonspecific | nubilate | nubilous | obduce | obfuscate | obfuscated | obnubilate | obscured | obumbrate | occult | occultate | occulted | odd | opaque | orderless | out of focus | out-of-the-way | overcast | overcloud | overlay | overshadow | oversmoke | overspread | overtechnical | pale | palter | parry | perplexed | perplexing | pervert | pick nits | pitch-black | pitch-dark | pitchy | prevaricate | pussyfoot | put on | puzzling | quibble | random | rayless | recondite | remote | removed | renownless | retired | roiled | roily | scramble | scrambled | screen | scum | secluded | secluse | secret | semivisible | sequestered | shade | shadow | shadowed forth | shadowy | shady | shapeless | shield | shift | shroud | shuffle | shy | sidestep | slur over | smog | smoke | snow-blind | solitary | somber | split hairs | spread over | starless | stochastic | strange | strike blind | subfusc | sunless | superimpose | superpose | sweeping | tenebrious | tenebrose | tenebrous | tergiversate | tough | transcendent | turbid | umbral | uncelebrated | uncertain | unclear | undefined | under an eclipse | under cover | under house arrest | under wraps | underground | undestined | undetermined | undistinguished | unemphatic | unfamed | unfamiliar | unfathomable | unform | unglorified | unheard-of | unhonored | unilluminated | unimportant | unintelligible | unknown | unlighted | unlit | unnamed | unnotable | unnoted | unnoticeable | unnoticed | unordered | unorganized | unplain | unpopular | unrecognizable | unremarked | unrenowned | unshape | unspecified | unsung | vague | varnish | veil | veiled | weak | whitewash | wrapped in clouds

See Also | alter | alter | change | change | conceal | darken | eclipse | hide | muddy | mystify | overshadow | shade | shade off | shadow

Obscure In Webster's Dictionary

\Ob*scure"\, a. [Compar. {Obscurer}; superl. {Obscurest}.] [L. obscurus, orig., covered; ob- (see {Ob-}) + a root probably meaning, to cover; cf. L. scutum shield, Skr. sku to cover: cf.F. obscur. Cf.{Sky}.] 1. Covered over, shaded, or darkened; destitute of light; imperfectly illuminated; dusky; dim. His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness. --Prov. xx. 20. 2. Of or pertaining to darkness or night; inconspicuous to the sight; indistinctly seen; hidden; retired; remote from observation; unnoticed. The obscure bird Clamored the livelong night. --Shak. The obscure corners of the earth. --Sir J. Davies. 3. Not noticeable; humble; mean. ``O base and obscure vulgar.'' --Shak. ``An obscure person.'' --Atterbury. 4. Not easily understood; not clear or legible; abstruse or blind; as, an obscure passage or inscription. 5. Not clear, full, or distinct; clouded; imperfect; as, an obscure view of remote objects. {Obscure rays} (Opt.), those rays which are not luminous or visible, and which in the spectrum are beyond the limits of the visible portion. Syn: Dark; dim; darksome; dusky; shadowy; misty; abstruse; intricate; difficult; mysterious; retired; unnoticed; unknown; humble; mean; indistinct.
\Ob*scure"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Obscured}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Obscuring}.] [L. obscurare, fr. obscurus: cf. OF. obscurer. See {Obscure}, a.] To render obscure; to darken; to make dim; to keep in the dark; to hide; to make less visible, intelligible, legible, glorious, beautiful, or illustrious. They are all couched in a pit hard by Herne's oak, with obscured lights. --Shak. Why, 't is an office of discovery, love, And I should be obscured. --Shak. There is scarce any duty which has been so obscured by the writings of learned men as this. --Wake. And seest not sin obscures thy godlike frame? --Dryden.
\Ob*scure"\, v. i. To conceal one's self; to hide; to keep dark. [Obs.] How! There's bad news. I must obscure, and hear it. --Beau. & Fl.
\Ob*scure"\, n. Obscurity. [Obs.] --Milton.

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