obscurantism

noun

ob·​scu·​ran·​tism äb-ˈskyu̇r-ən-ˌti-zəm 

əb-;

ˌäb-skyu̇-ˈran-

1

: opposition to the spread of knowledge : a policy of withholding knowledge from the general public

2

a

: a style (as in literature or art) characterized by deliberate vagueness or abstruseness

b

: an act or instance of obscurantism

obscurantist

äb-ˈskyu̇r-ən-tist 

əb-;

ˌäb-skyu̇-ˈran-tist

noun or adjective

Examples of obscurantism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Art as cult fodder, marginalia, obscurantism—Duchamp inaugurated all of this. — Sebastian Smee, The Atlantic, 29 June 2026

In Weill’s opinion, composers educated in the classical tradition had lost touch with the broader public and sunk into obscurantism. — Alex Ross, New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2025

May these words allow to put a stop to this unbearable coercion and open, at last, a new era in Iran, and wherever women are victim of obscurantism. — Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 5 Oct. 2022

For 33 years, Salman Rushdie has embodied freedom and the fight against obscurantism. — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 15 Aug. 2022

More troubling still, universities can get away with obscurantism and enforced ideological conformism because of their enormous power over labor markets. — Joel Kotkin, National Review, 29 Mar. 2022

The history of its practice in Jerusalem presents a parade of eccentrics and fanatics, enlivened by obscurantism and riot. — Dominic Green, WSJ, 17 Dec. 2021

Imbued with a sense of grandeur, France harks back to the Enlightenment to speak about fighting obscurantism in the world today and proffers its secular universalism as a model for modern societies. — New York Times, 23 Sep. 2021

The authors, three legal academics and a celebrated economist, charge that the eurozone’s technocratic obscurantism and self-defeating tendency toward austerity exacerbate inequality, right-wing populism, and Euroskepticism. — Andrew Moravcsik, Foreign Affairs, 12 Aug. 2019

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from German Obscurantismus or French obscurantisme, from Latin obscūrant-, obscūrans, present participle of obscūrāre "to darken, eclipse, conceal from knowledge" + German -ismus, French -isme -ism — more at obscure entry 2

First Known Use

1834, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for obscurantism

• activism
• albinism
• altruism
• aneurism
• animism
• aphorism
• atomism
• barbarism
• bolshevism
• botulism
• brahmanism
• calvinism