1
as in obscuring
to make dark, dim, or indistinct
the diner's dark interior, clouded with smoke and grease
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in confusing
to make (something) unclear to the understanding
cloud the issue with obscure statistics
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of clouding
Both are common refrains, but at the time, Hall struggled to see past the fog clouding his future.
—
Caleb Yum, Austin American Statesman, 5 Mar. 2026
The attorney general’s statement offered little clarity, further clouding an incident that has already generated significant international speculation.
—Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 4 Mar. 2026
Mist had laid moist fingers on her windowpane, clouding the city outside.
—Literary Hub, 26 Feb. 2026
Hu stopped making trades toward the end of last year when a pullback in big tech companies helped drag the S&P 500 to a monthly loss in December, clouding sentiment on Wall Street.
—Alex Veiga, Fortune, 23 Feb. 2026
Hu stopped making trades toward the end of last year when a pullback in big tech companies helped drag the S&P 500 to a monthly loss in December, clouding sentiment on Wall Street.
—ABC News, 22 Feb. 2026
Photos and video shared with Fox News Digital capture billowing, dark smoke clouding the skyline of the city, which is located on Mexico’s Pacific Coast in the state of Jalisco.
—Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 22 Feb. 2026
On the bases, past double‑digit steal seasons with excellent efficiency are contrasted with a 2025 campaign of just three steals on five attempts, clouding his future speed outlook.
—Derek Vanriper, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2026
By his third season, rumors of Sane’s departure and injuries surfaced, clouding his trajectory.
—Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
Caleb Yum, Austin American Statesman, 5 Mar. 2026
The attorney general’s statement offered little clarity, further clouding an incident that has already generated significant international speculation.
—Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 4 Mar. 2026
Mist had laid moist fingers on her windowpane, clouding the city outside.
—Literary Hub, 26 Feb. 2026
Hu stopped making trades toward the end of last year when a pullback in big tech companies helped drag the S&P 500 to a monthly loss in December, clouding sentiment on Wall Street.
—Alex Veiga, Fortune, 23 Feb. 2026
Hu stopped making trades toward the end of last year when a pullback in big tech companies helped drag the S&P 500 to a monthly loss in December, clouding sentiment on Wall Street.
—ABC News, 22 Feb. 2026
Photos and video shared with Fox News Digital capture billowing, dark smoke clouding the skyline of the city, which is located on Mexico’s Pacific Coast in the state of Jalisco.
—Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 22 Feb. 2026
On the bases, past double‑digit steal seasons with excellent efficiency are contrasted with a 2025 campaign of just three steals on five attempts, clouding his future speed outlook.
—Derek Vanriper, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2026
By his third season, rumors of Sane’s departure and injuries surfaced, clouding his trajectory.
—Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clouding
Verb
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Where at the beginning of the period, the boyish, figure-obscuring flapper dress was the au courant silhouette, by the end, fashion was shifting toward the more body-conscious bias cut.—
Hannah Jackson,
Vogue,
2 Mar. 2026
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This footage is overlaid with rapidly shifting colors via video synthesizer, obscuring our view, and an iris that periodically frames the runner.—
Daniel R. Quiles,
Artforum,
1 Mar. 2026
Verb
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But the notice sent last spring was so vague and confusing that few people used it to object.—
U T Editorial Board,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 Mar. 2026
-
The company’s messaging has been confusing and has at various points seemed to contradict its own previous statements, as well as information from the government.—
Matteo Wong,
The Atlantic,
7 Mar. 2026
Verb
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In one scene, someone holds up a phone showing the real footage of the Red Crescent workers that day, further blurring the lines between documentary and performance.—
Alexander Durie,
Time,
3 Mar. 2026
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In 2026, however, formulas are more playful, blurring the lines between lip care and flair—pairing the benefits of traditional ointments with the versatility of makeup.—
Kiana Murden,
Vogue,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The renderings, which showed an imposing new East Wing roughly a city block long, would be longer than the West Wing and almost completely obfuscating the view of the Treasury Building from the White House's South Lawn.—
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy,
USA Today,
26 Feb. 2026
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Lawyers for the group contend that the city is willfully obfuscating to cover up its inadequate efforts to live up to its settlement.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The image was captured shortly after Earth's curved inner shadow began its slow journey across the lunar disk, darkening the lunar seas sprawling across the western portion of its surface.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
3 Mar. 2026
-
Smoke from the fire could be seen from miles away, darkening the sky.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
18 Feb. 2026
Verb
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As the decades passed, their experiments escalated into increasingly absurd inquiries, muddying the boundaries between subjective and objective reality.—
Shannon Taggart,
Artforum,
1 Feb. 2026
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This may be because the nucleus accumbens, the other reward region that some participants learned to ramp up, didn’t have the same connection to immune response, muddying the results.—
Allison Parshall,
Scientific American,
19 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Why are my car windows fogging up on the inside?—
John Paul,
The Providence Journal,
6 Mar. 2026
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De-Fog Mirrors Before getting in the shower and using shampoo on your hair, use shampoo to prevent your bathroom mirror from fogging up from the shower’s humidity.—
Hallie Milstein,
Southern Living,
16 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Less precise bombs could mean more civilian casualties, complicating the war and angering even Iranians who wanted a regime change.—
Chris Tye,
CBS News,
4 Mar. 2026
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Hunt, a Houston-area congressman and military veteran, entered the race later, complicating the anti-Paxton lane and reshaping the dynamics.—
Dante Motley,
Austin American Statesman,
3 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Clouding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clouding. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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