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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of clouding
By his third season, rumors of Sane’s departure and injuries surfaced, clouding his trajectory.
—
Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
The study showed that insurers paid investors $680 million in dividends and accepted $951 million in capital contributions from affiliates, clouding regulators’ abilities to determine insurers’ actual financial health.
—Ron Hurtibise, Sun Sentinel, 22 Jan. 2026
Kelson wants to find out if the infection is merely clouding Samson’s mind, in which case the alpha’s memories — and, in a larger sense, his humanity — would still lie underneath.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 16 Jan. 2026
Espada’s preference is not to carry prospects on the major-league roster unless there is a guarantee of everyday playing time, further clouding any path Matthews may have to the big leagues.
—Chandler Rome, New York Times, 13 Jan. 2026
This weekend’s seismic upheaval in member nation Venezuela is the latest in a series of geopolitical pressure points spanning from Russia to Yemen that are also clouding the outlook.
—Grant Smith, Fortune, 4 Jan. 2026
Covers resting directly on tabletops can trap moisture against the surface, causing water rings or finish clouding.
—Colleen Sullivan, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 Dec. 2025
Is love clouding your better judgment, Sagittarius?
—Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 23 Dec. 2025
Its results are a sort of proxy for the economy, and suggest that bad vibes are clouding strong underlying performance and business confidence.
—Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 19 Dec. 2025
Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
The study showed that insurers paid investors $680 million in dividends and accepted $951 million in capital contributions from affiliates, clouding regulators’ abilities to determine insurers’ actual financial health.
—Ron Hurtibise, Sun Sentinel, 22 Jan. 2026
Kelson wants to find out if the infection is merely clouding Samson’s mind, in which case the alpha’s memories — and, in a larger sense, his humanity — would still lie underneath.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 16 Jan. 2026
Espada’s preference is not to carry prospects on the major-league roster unless there is a guarantee of everyday playing time, further clouding any path Matthews may have to the big leagues.
—Chandler Rome, New York Times, 13 Jan. 2026
This weekend’s seismic upheaval in member nation Venezuela is the latest in a series of geopolitical pressure points spanning from Russia to Yemen that are also clouding the outlook.
—Grant Smith, Fortune, 4 Jan. 2026
Covers resting directly on tabletops can trap moisture against the surface, causing water rings or finish clouding.
—Colleen Sullivan, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 Dec. 2025
Is love clouding your better judgment, Sagittarius?
—Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 23 Dec. 2025
Its results are a sort of proxy for the economy, and suggest that bad vibes are clouding strong underlying performance and business confidence.
—Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 19 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clouding
Verb
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An exhibition in Beijing delving into anonymity, a key code of the house stemming back to the founder Martin Margiela’s Greta Garbo-like ways — and the face-obscuring masks that have been a feature of the brand since the Belgian maverick arrived on the international fashion scene.—
Miles Socha,
Footwear News,
10 Feb. 2026
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The shooters were in the parked Chevrolet Equinox for three minutes and 19 seconds before getting out, carrying rifles and with fabric obscuring their faces.—
Emerson Clarridge
Updated February 6,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
7 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The citizens of Texas are confusing hospitality for complacency.—
Eleanor Dearman,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 Feb. 2026
-
Registration deadlines, confusing rules and inconsistent access make participation harder at the very moment young people become eligible to vote.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The researchers warned that while the idea of workers taking on more tasks voluntarily could seem ideal, nonstop work has the potential to lead to problems down the line, including blurring the boundary between work and non-work, as well as burnout and cognitive fatigue.—
Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez,
Fortune,
10 Feb. 2026
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The almost imperceptible pigment is an immediate boost of pore- and fine line-blurring prowess.—
Tamim Alnuweiri,
InStyle,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The renderings showed an imposing new East Wing roughly a city block long, longer than the West Wing and almost completely obfuscating the view of the Treasury Building from the South Lawn.—
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy,
USA Today,
16 Feb. 2026
-
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
-
Hope is a dimming ember lighting our ever-darkening path.—
AJ Willingham,
AJC.com,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Simon also said that darkening retail doors can be filled by growing businesses as Life Time health clubs, House of Sports, which is a relatively new concept from Dick’s Sporting Goods, and space can be repurposed to mixed uses, including outdoor uses.—
David Moin,
Footwear News,
3 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
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
-
The wax was so hot that my glasses were fogging up.—
Lauren Collins,
New Yorker,
15 Dec. 2025
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This small action will prevent mirrors from fogging up in the first place!—
Mary Cornetta,
Better Homes & Gardens,
4 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Brontë’s genius lies in complicating hate and love, in passing burdens across generations.—
Ana Gutierrez,
Austin American Statesman,
11 Feb. 2026
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Further complicating things were that the fastball-slider combo essentially stayed on the same plane, mostly up in the strike zone.—
Evan Grant,
Dallas Morning News,
11 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Clouding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clouding. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.
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