obscure

adjective

ob·scure | \ äb-ˈskyu̇r

, əb-\

Definition of obscure

(Entry 1 of 3)

1a : dark, dim the obscure dusk of the shuttered room

b : shrouded in or hidden by darkness standing obscure in the deepest shade

c : not clearly seen or easily distinguished : faint obscure markings

2 : not readily understood or clearly expressed also : mysterious a slough of pretentious and obscure jargon — Philip Howard

3 : relatively unknown: such as

a : remote, secluded an obscure village

b : not prominent or famous an obscure poet

4 : constituting the unstressed vowel \ə\ or having unstressed \ə\ as its value

obscure

verb

ob·scure | \ äb-ˈskyu̇r

, əb-\

obscured; obscuring

Definition of obscure (Entry 2 of 3)

transitive verb

1 : to make dark, dim, or indistinct The soot on the lampshade obscured the light.

2 : to conceal or hide by or as if by covering … snow on glaciers can obscure deep crevasses.— Tom Simon

3 : to reduce (a vowel) to the value \ə\

obscure

noun

ob·scure | \ äb-ˈskyu̇r

, əb-\

Definition of obscure (Entry 3 of 3)

: obscurity

Other Words from obscure Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about obscure

Keep scrolling for more

Other Words from obscure

Adjective

obscurely adverb

obscureness noun

Verb

obscuration \ ˌäb-skyu̇-ˈrā-shən

\ noun

Choose the Right Synonym for obscure

Adjective

obscure, dark, vague, enigmatic, cryptic, ambiguous, equivocal mean not clearly understandable. obscure implies a hiding or veiling of meaning through some inadequacy of expression or withholding of full knowledge. obscure poems dark implies an imperfect or clouded revelation often with ominous or sinister suggestion. muttered dark hints of revenge vague implies a lack of clear formulation due to inadequate conception or consideration. a vague sense of obligation enigmatic stresses a puzzling, mystifying quality. enigmatic occult writings cryptic implies a purposely concealed meaning. cryptic hints of hidden treasure ambiguous applies to language capable of more than one interpretation. an ambiguous directive equivocal applies to language left open to differing interpretations with the intention of deceiving or evading. moral precepts with equivocal phrasing

Examples of obscure in a Sentence

Adjective

Many people shared an obscure sense of gratification that [Dylan] Thomas had died young, as a poet should. — Adam Kirsch, New Yorker, 5 July 2004 But by 1830 the Boston Mission Board was desperate enough that it targeted an obscure sect of Oriental Christians, the Nestorians in faraway Iran, as a possibility for conversion. — Robert D. Kaplan, The Arabists, 1993 I knew they were special from their jeans and T-shirts, their knowing, ironic looks when obscure works of literature were referred to. — Julia Alvarez, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, 1991 Now at last Bacon could refer when he chose to his father's high position and his father's service—and no man could say it was done for self-aggrandizement, as a son who is obscure bespeaks the glory of past forebears. — Catherine Drinker Bowen, Francis Bacon, 1963 The movie is full of obscure references that only pop culture enthusiasts will understand. The origins of the language are obscure.

Verb

Throughout this book, the ground of fact becomes obscured entirely by a deep layer of speculative quicksand. — Helen Vendler, New Republic, 10 June 2002 But evening comes or even noon and some combination of nervous tensions obscures my memories of what whiskey costs me in the way of physical and intellectual well-being. — John Cheever, New Yorker, 13 Aug. 1990 … [Mr. Schuller's] … "Early Jazz" brought a sometimes Olympian precision to writing about an art that has often languished in the whale's belly of sociology, obscured by pretension and blubbery thinking. — Stanley Crouch, New York Times Book Review, 2 Apr. 1989 It was eight o'clock when we landed; we walked for a short time on the shore enjoying the transitory light, and then retired to the inn and contemplated the lovely scene of waters, woods, and mountains, obscured in darkness, yet still displaying their black outlines. — Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein, 1818 The true history has been obscured by legends about what happened. They accused the company of trying to obscure the fact that the product poses a health risk.

Noun

… who shall … through the palpable obscure find out his uncouth way … ? — John Milton, Paradise Lost, 1667

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

What could account for such a willfully, persistently small-minded, obscure, and naive vision of the role of government? — Aaron Timms, The New Republic, "The Sameness of Cass Sunstein," 20 June 2019 Λαων, λ αε: etymology obscure, semantic field dubious. — Anne Carson, Harper's magazine, "From a manuscript in progress. Carson’s collection of performance pieces," 10 June 2019 Those numbers also obscure big differences in vaccination rates from one zip code to another, spanning from as low as 19 percent in one community in northern Los Angeles County to as high as 99 percent in Watsonville, California. — Joanna Pearlstein, WIRED, "California’s Vaccination Rate Slips as Medical Exemptions Rise," 7 June 2019 But the 1619 commemorations almost obscure one important fact: long before English pirates on two ships deposited these new arrivals from modern day Angola in Point Comfort, Virginia, Africans already had a presence in the Americas. — Lekan Oguntoyinbo, Quartz Africa, "The 1619 anniversary of Africans in the United States is significant but not the whole story," 6 June 2019 In fact, the book describes a crucial part of the antislavery struggle in which white lawmakers, prominent and obscure, were of principal importance, but where activists, including Frederick Douglass, repeatedly played a vital role. — Nicholas Guyatt, The New York Review of Books, "‘No Property in Man’: An Exchange," 6 June 2019 As viewers across the US watched the contestants spell out increasingly fiendish words, Merriam-Webster, the dictionary, saw an uptick in obscure words being searched on its website. — Mary Hui, Quartz, "Karmadharaya, thymele, and tjaele: Words from the Spelling Bee’s 8-way-tie finish," 31 May 2019 Out were obscure vocabulary words and a deduction for incorrect answers. — Tawnell D. Hobbs, WSJ, "SAT Tops College Admissions Rival ACT for First Time in Seven Years," 25 Oct. 2018 Multimillion-dollar classics, obscure-but-not-forgotten supercars, and legendary race cars make their way to the peninsula to bask in each other's reflected glory. — Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, "Infiniti looks to an all-electric future with the Prototype 10 concept," 23 Aug. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

But blindly accepting American propaganda about the revolutionary government obscured the real, if limited, grassroots democratic advances and efforts to improve the quality of formerly impoverished and violently repressed lives. — Jeffrey L. Gould, The New Republic, "Making Sense of Bernie’s Sandinista Sympathies," 6 June 2019 Pushing Lowry has obscured the life and reputation Stevens had built up to now. — Josh Peter, USA TODAY, "Mark Stevens: Who is the banned Warriors minority owner who pushed Kyle Lowry?," 6 June 2019 The photo calls, the auditions, the hours lost to hair and makeup, the rehearsals, the empty, endless time on set—the glitz obscures the toil. — Mattie Kahn, Glamour, "Aurora Perrineau Wanted to Be Known as an Actor. Instead, Her Name Got Dragged Into Scandal," 21 May 2019 After spending months concealing her pregnancy with belly-obscuring peplums and A-line skirts, Cardi opted for a look that accentuated her maternity curves—plunging neckline, bump-hugging waist, and a daring leg reveal. — Rachel Hahn, Vogue, "Cardi B Brought the Red Carpet to the Met Gala," 7 May 2019 Developing such an understanding for coral reefs is especially challenging because they are submerged underwater and therefore obscured from casual view. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "New Atlas Captures Conditions of Nearly One-Fourth of World's Coral," 25 Apr. 2019 At some point the art became obscured by layers of white paint and a drop ceiling. — Linda Girardi, Aurora Beacon-News, "'Forgotten' mural long hidden at Aurora school to be restored," 18 Apr. 2018 All of that, his critics assert, has obscured the pursuit of reform, which is what the party needs most, or so the argument goes. — Bill Powell, Newsweek, "Is This the End of China's Economic Miracle?," 26 Nov. 2014 But obscuring her while trying to post about her started to seem pointless. — Sara Gaynes Levy, Glamour, "No, I Won’t Post a Photo of My Kid on Social Media," 16 Jan. 2019

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