obscure

adjective

ob·​scure äb-ˈskyu̇r 

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

c

: requiring knowledge that is restricted to a limited group

a movie full of obscure references to pop culture

4

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

obscurely adverb

obscureness noun

Synonyms of obscure

• ambiguous
• cryptic
• dark
• mysterious
• enigmatic
• esoteric
• mystic

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

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.

Recent Examples on the Web

This is how the obscure Canadian band Satan’s Night Out became the Vampire Lestat. —Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 8 June 2026

Ed and my husband have voluminous conversations about obscure historical figures and the state of humanity. —Zinzi Clemmons, Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2026

The identity of Junius has long remained obscure. —Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 8 June 2026

Frankie Knuckles, a New Yorker who moved to Chicago in the ’70s, began spinning at a West Loop spot called the Warehouse in 1977, seamlessly mixing American and European disco with obscure soul and electronic records. —Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 7 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

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).

First Known Use

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

Rhymes for obscure

• abjure
• adjure
• allure
• assure
• brochure
• cocksure
• coiffure
• contour
• couture
• demure
• detour
• endure

Kids Definition

obscure

1 of 2 adjective

ob·​scure äb-ˈskyu̇(ə)r 

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