obscurantism

noun

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ob·scu·ran·tism | \ äb-ˈskyu̇r-ən-ˌti-zəm

, əb-; ˌäb-skyu̇-ˈran- \

Definition of obscurantism

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

2a : a style (as in literature or art) characterized by deliberate vagueness or abstruseness

b : an act or instance of obscurantism

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Examples of obscurantism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web 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. — BostonGlobe.com, 23 Sep. 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 Your homework assignment: Look up this exciting word — obscurantism. — Gary Gilson, Star Tribune, 26 Dec. 2020 The obscurantism isn’t confined to talking heads and detached national politicians, either. — Tobias Hoonhout, National Review, 3 Sep. 2020 Peters seemed to others to be a genius at two things: mimicking the verbal pretentiousness and obscurantism of academic parlance and sweeping naïve young women off their feet by means of an alchemy that remained mysterious to everyone else. — New York Times, 14 Feb. 2020 Some early reviewers of The Second Sleep, which was published in the U.K. at the start of September, gave the impression that Harris had issued a rather straightforward warning against the threat of religious obscurantism and fanaticism. — John Wilson, National Review, 5 Dec. 2019 The secular Republic—as defended by Sarkozy, Hollande, and then Valls, along with numerous intellectuals and editorial writers—conveniently united the fight against Islamist obscurantism in France with that in Afghanistan. — Rony Brauman, Harper's magazine, 10 Apr. 2019 Some of his ire is justified—there is a lot of obscurantism in the world—but most works to bypass rather than engage. — Samuel Moyn, The New Republic, 19 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'obscurantism.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.