as in ambiguous
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as in confused
to make (something) unclear to the understanding
irrelevant matters that only serve to obfuscate the fundamental issue of guilt or innocence
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Recent Examples of obfuscated
Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 1 June 2026
The initial script is heavily obfuscated to avoid detection by antivirus tools.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 17 Jan. 2026
Crucially, there are real-world exploits like University of California, San Diego’s (UCSD) Imprompter, which had nearly an 80% success rate in extracting personal data via obfuscated prompts.
—Camellia Chan, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 15 May 2026
No wonder the numbers are obfuscated.
—U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Apr. 2026
Crypto transactions are recorded on a ledger that anyone can see and cannot be altered or obfuscated.
—Nic Puckrin, Fortune, 2 Apr. 2026
Every moment of euphoria is obfuscated by distortion, every pop impulse is undercut by squealing dissonance.
—Colin Joyce, Pitchfork, 18 Mar. 2026
At points, smoke obfuscated everyone on stage except for Reznor — who didn’t speak to the crowd except to introduce the touring band.
—Jake Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 Mar. 2026
So their needs may be obfuscated, obscured even, from them!
—Big Think, 10 Feb. 2026
Though some investors like lottery winner Edwin Castro have made headlines by purchasing multiple lots, the process is largely opaque and the names of the buyers are obfuscated by limited liability companies, or LLCs, Fairweather said.
—Terry Castleman, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2026
The script then runs obfuscated PowerShell code filled with junk instructions to throw researchers off.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 13 Dec. 2025
Adjective
The packages execute an obfuscated payload that can run during the npm install process, which occurs before a developer imports or actually uses the package in a production environment.
—Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 1 June 2026
The initial script is heavily obfuscated to avoid detection by antivirus tools.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 17 Jan. 2026
Crucially, there are real-world exploits like University of California, San Diego’s (UCSD) Imprompter, which had nearly an 80% success rate in extracting personal data via obfuscated prompts.
—Camellia Chan, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Verb
From here, things get hazy because the details are missing—or at least highly obfuscated.
—Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 15 May 2026
No wonder the numbers are obfuscated.
—U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Apr. 2026
Crypto transactions are recorded on a ledger that anyone can see and cannot be altered or obfuscated.
—Nic Puckrin, Fortune, 2 Apr. 2026
Every moment of euphoria is obfuscated by distortion, every pop impulse is undercut by squealing dissonance.
—Colin Joyce, Pitchfork, 18 Mar. 2026
At points, smoke obfuscated everyone on stage except for Reznor — who didn’t speak to the crowd except to introduce the touring band.
—Jake Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 Mar. 2026
So their needs may be obfuscated, obscured even, from them!
—Big Think, 10 Feb. 2026
Though some investors like lottery winner Edwin Castro have made headlines by purchasing multiple lots, the process is largely opaque and the names of the buyers are obfuscated by limited liability companies, or LLCs, Fairweather said.
—Terry Castleman, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2026
The script then runs obfuscated PowerShell code filled with junk instructions to throw researchers off.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 13 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for obfuscated
Adjective
-
Nonetheless, the series evolves into an elaborate soap opera over its 39 episodes, with complex scheming characters opposing Utena, her relationship with Anthy serving as the lodestar that guides this tragedy towards its ambiguous conclusion.—
Wilson Chapman,
IndieWire,
12 June 2026
-
Ruling upends August elections At the center of the controversy is an ambiguous ruling from the Missouri Supreme Court last month that left local election officials scrambling.—
Kacen Bayless,
Kansas City Star,
12 June 2026
Verb
-
Both the National Weather Service of Miami and the Florida Keys said there was no cause for alarm and no tsunami threat, but that didn’t stop confused Floridians from taking to social media and neighborhood Facebook groups to ask if anyone else felt something similar.—
Kairi Lowery,
Miami Herald,
8 June 2026
-
Hull played her first two rounds at 3 over, squeezing under the cut by one stroke while saying she had been confused by the speed of the greens.—
Greg Beacham,
Chicago Tribune,
8 June 2026
Adjective
-
Although Suki Waterhouse did confirm that she is set to attend, most of the couple's friends have been very cryptic about the status of their wedding invites.—
Meg Walters,
InStyle,
3 June 2026
-
Coaches and teammates have struggled to remain in contact with him, and AIyuk’s rare social media posts have been both cryptic and lacking clues about his football ambitions.—
Caelyn Pender,
Mercury News,
3 June 2026
Verb
-
Meanwhile, hospital visits and funerals of friends blurred together.—
Christina Ray Stanton,
Time,
2 June 2026
-
Brown had blurred her daughter's face.—
Kimberlee Speakman,
PEOPLE,
2 June 2026
Adjective
-
My family tree was obscure, its branches hidden.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 June 2026
-
City authorities have cited the obscure commission’s denial as reason for not moving forward even though the City Council voted in favor of the project.—
Andrew Khouri,
Los Angeles Times,
9 June 2026
Verb
-
Israel’s strikes and ground invasion in Lebanon in pursuit of Hezbollah, and the militant group’s resistance to disarming, have complicated an overall deal to end the war in the Middle East.—
Kareem Chehayeb,
Fortune,
7 June 2026
-
The team's participation in the World Cup, jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, has been complicated by the Iran war.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
7 June 2026
Adjective
-
Brandon Aiyuk’s recent emergence on social media now includes his bluntest message yet about a mysterious estrangement with the 49ers.—
Cam Inman,
Mercury News,
10 June 2026
-
The mysterious illness would later take on the town's name, Lyme disease.—
Jeff Wagner,
CBS News,
9 June 2026
Adjective
-
Since the study is observational, whether the gut microbiome findings were causing bowel issues or whether abnormal bowel function changed the gut microbiome is unclear, Preidis said.—
Kristen Rogers,
CNN Money,
8 June 2026
-
For most of these crashes, the database is also unclear on whether the drivers violated traffic laws.—
Willoughby Mariano,
ProPublica,
8 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Obfuscated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/obfuscated. Accessed 14 Jun. 2026.
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