obscure

1 of 3

adjective

ob·​scure äb-ˈskyu̇r How to pronounce obscure (audio)
əb-
1
a
: 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
obscurely adverb
obscureness noun

obscure

2 of 3

verb

obscured; obscuring

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\
obscuration noun

obscure

3 of 3

noun

Choose the Right Synonym for obscure

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
And while those devices might sound obscure, they’re reportedly sold through major retail platforms like Amazon, Walmart, Sears, Shein, and Temu. Andy Greenberg, WIRED, 2 Mar. 2024 At once famous and obscure, marginal and central, Harry Smith anticipated and even invented several important elements of Sixties counterculture. J. Hoberman, The New York Review of Books, 29 Feb. 2024 The essay topics include Cher, Madonna, and Whitney Houston, as well as Cat Power bootlegs, an obscure Hop Along CD-R, and a perfect Kim Gordon playlist of two songs designed to be heard on a loop. Owen Myers, Pitchfork, 29 Feb. 2024 What’s more, as organizations add and accumulate systems, visibility into settings and controls may become obscure. Gerry Gebel, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024 The state's highest court ruled in December that Trump's conduct surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection disqualified him from holding public office under an obscure provision of the Constitution and ordered him to be kept off the GOP primary ballot. Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 28 Feb. 2024 This is all legal because of the relaxed rules written into an obscure tax code provision called the unrelated business income tax (UBIT). Scott Hodge, Orange County Register, 26 Feb. 2024 The feeling arises more than once that De los Santos Arias is cluttering up a captivating story with obscure distractions, random shifts between color and B&W and constant shuffling of the film’s style. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Feb. 2024 Disappeared to an obscure Arctic prison, the celebrated dissident suffered ill health for months and died Friday, according to Russian authorities. Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 19 Feb. 2024
Verb
In New York City, for example, approximately 90% of the Sun will be obscured, which is significant. George Dvorsky / Gizmodo, Quartz, 4 Mar. 2024 Her book demonstrates that gap was short, and history has been obscured in a way that has disenfranchised many Africans. Thomas Page, CNN, 1 Mar. 2024 By peeling back the layers of a area often obscured by opulent tasting rooms and placing its flavors in the setting of a humble craftsman bungalow, the Napa Valley onion begins to taste a little sweeter. Joe Sills, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2024 Thus, only part of the sun will be obscured during the eclipse. Grace Tucker, The Enquirer, 23 Feb. 2024 Such precipitation as was created here Saturday seemed to help scrub the air free of mists, dust, automotive exhaust and anything else that obscured the purity and brightness of the stretches of blue sky overhead. Martin Weil, Washington Post, 18 Feb. 2024 As Stone, Affleck is heavily obscured by prosthetics, a wig, and makeup. Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 16 Feb. 2024 His face is angled, obscured in shadow; absent are the name and number that would normally identify him on his stark white jersey. Ann Binlot, CNN, 21 Feb. 2024 From the ground, clouds could obscure the view—and the odds of clear skies in the U.S. and Canada on that day are only about 50/50, reports Forbes’ Jamie Carter. Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'obscure.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English, "dark, unenlightened, incomprehensible," borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French oscur, obscur "dark, dull, enigmatic," borrowed from Latin obscūrus "dim, dark, appearing faintly, imperfectly known, concealed from knowledge, incomprehensible," of uncertain origin

Note: Latin obscūrus has traditionally been linked to a presumed Indo-European verbal base *skeu̯- "cover, conceal," and hence to an assortment of Germanic etyma, most formed with hypothesized root extensions of this base (compare shower entry 1, sky entry 1)—hence, J. Pokorny, Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, p. 951, American Heritage Dictionary, Oxford Latin Dictionary, and the Oxford English Dictionary, third edition. However, etymological work of the last half-century has thrown doubt on the existence of such an etymon; in particular, the Sanskrit verb skunā́ti, glossed as "covers," has now been judged a late and isolated semantic development of a verb that meant "push, poke" in Vedic. The difficulty with any analysis of obscūrus that posits a meaning "cover" for -scūr- is that it makes little sense semantically compounded with the prefix and preposition ob(s)- "facing, in front of, toward/against" (compare ob oculōs "before one's eyes," obviam "in the way of"). It is not even certain that the word is correctly parsed as ob-scūrus, rather than obs-cūrus, as has been proposed by E. Hamp ("Some Italic and Celtic correspondences II," Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung, 96. Band, 1. Heft [1982/83], pp. 98-99). While acknowledging this problem, M. de Vaan suggests a relationship with the bases of Latin scaevus "left-hand" and obscēnus, obscaenus "ill-omened" (see obscene), though he admits that supporting cognates in other Indo-European languages are lacking (Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the Other Italic Languages, Brill, 2008).

Verb

Middle English obscuren, borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French obscurer, oscurir, borrowed from Latin obscūrāre "to darken, eclipse, dim, conceal from knowledge, make difficult to comprehend," verbal derivative of obscūrus "dim, dark, imperfectly known, concealed from knowledge, incomprehensible" — more at obscure entry 1

Noun

derivative of obscure entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1667, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of obscure was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near obscure

Cite this Entry

“Obscure.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/obscure. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

obscure

1 of 2 adjective
ob·​scure äb-ˈskyu̇(ə)r How to pronounce obscure (audio)
əb-
1
a
: not having enough light : dark, gloomy
b
: not clearly seen : faint
obscure markings
2
: not easily understood or not clearly expressed
an obscure passage
3
a
: hidden from view : remote
an obscure village
b
: not widely known
an obscure poet
obscurely adverb

obscure

2 of 2 verb
obscured; obscuring
: to make obscure

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