obfuscate

English

WOTD – 6 July 2007

Etymology

The adjective is first attested in 1487, in Middle English, the verb in 1536; either borrowed from Middle French obfusquer, offusquer, from Old French offusquer, or directly from Late Latin obfuscātus, offuscātus, the perfect passive participle of obfuscō, offuscō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from Latin ob- + fuscō (“to darken”). Doublet of dusken (“to darken, make obscure”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɒbfəskeɪt/
• (General American, dialects of Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈɑbfəskeɪt/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Canada, dialects of the US) IPA^(key): /ˈɒbfəskeɪt/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɔbfəskæɪt/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈɒbfəskæɪt/, [ˈɔ̟bfəskæɪt]

Verb

obfuscate (third-person singular simple present obfuscates, present participle obfuscating, simple past and past participle obfuscated)

1. To make dark; to overshadow.
2. To deliberately make more confusing in order to conceal the truth.

   obfuscate facts

   Can weakness be really obfuscated?

   Before leaving the scene, the murderer set a fire in order to obfuscate any evidence of his identity.

   • 2018 February 13, Anonymous White House Official, “White House reels as FBI director contradicts official claims about alleged abuser”, in Washington Post:

     When asked if Kelly could have been more transparent or truthful, that official wrote: “In this White House, it’s simply not in our DNA. Truthful and transparent is great, but we don’t even have a coherent strategy to obfuscate.”

3. (computing) To alter code while preserving its behavior but concealing its structure and intent.

   We need to obfuscate these classes before we ship the final release.

Conjugation

Conjugation of obfuscate

infinitive	(to) obfuscate
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	obfuscate	obfuscated
2nd-person singular	obfuscate, obfuscatest†	obfuscated, obfuscatedst†
3rd-person singular	obfuscates, obfuscateth†	obfuscated
plural	obfuscate
subjunctive	obfuscate	obfuscated
imperative	obfuscate	—
participles	obfuscating	obfuscated

^† Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms

• (to make dark): darken, eclipse, overshadow
• (to deliberately make more confusing): confuse, muddle, obscure

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “to deliberately make less confusing”): explain, simplify

Derived terms

• deobfuscate
• obfuscatable
• obfuscator
• unobfuscatable

Related terms

• obfuscation
• obfuscatory
• obfuscous

Translations

make dark

• Bulgarian: замъглявам (bg) (zamǎgljavam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 弄暗 (nòng'àn)

• Dutch: verduisteren (nl)
• Finnish: varjostaa (fi), pimentää (fi)
• French: obscurcir (fr)
• German: verfinstern (de), verdunkeln (de), dunkel machen
• Hebrew: החשיך (hekhshíkh)
• Hungarian: elhomályosít (hu), elsötétít (hu)
• Italian: ottenebrare (it), offuscare (it)
• Maori: whakauriuri, whakapōuri
• Norwegian: formørke, overskygge
• Polish: zaciemniać (pl), zaciemnić (pl)
• Portuguese: ofuscar (pt)
• Romanian: întuneca (ro), umbri (ro)
• Russian: затемня́ть (ru) impf (zatemnjátʹ), затемни́ть (ru) pf (zatemnítʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: zatamniti (sh)
• Spanish: ofuscar (es), infuscar (es) (rare)
• Turkish: karartmak (tr)
• Ukrainian: затемнювати (zatemnjuvaty), затьмарювати (zatʹmarjuvaty)

make confusing

• Bulgarian: обърквам (bg) (obǎrkvam), смущавам (bg) (smuštavam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 混淆 (zh) (hùnxiáo), 弄亂 / 弄乱 (zh) (nòngluàn), 搞亂 / 搞乱 (zh) (gǎoluàn), ^{(please verify)} 使模糊 (shǐ móhu), ^{(please verify)} 使混亂 / 使混乱 (shǐ hùnluàn), ^{(please verify)} 使糊塗 / 使糊涂 (shǐ hútu)

• Finnish: peittää (fi)
• French: embrouiller (fr)
• German: verdunkeln (de), verschleiern (de)
• Hebrew: בלבל (bilbél), סיבך (sibékh), הקשה (hikshá)
• Hungarian: összezavar (hu)
• Italian: offuscare (it), ottenebrare (it)
• Maori: whakakōpekapeka, whakapōhēhē
• Norwegian: forkludre, forvirre (no), tåkelegge
• Polish: zaciemniać (pl) impf, zaciemnić (pl) pf
• Portuguese: ofuscar (pt)
• Romanian: confunda (ro), încurca (ro), zăpăci (ro)
• Russian: запу́тывать (ru) impf (zapútyvatʹ), запу́тать (ru) pf (zapútatʹ), сбива́ть с то́лку (ru) impf (sbivátʹ s tólku), сбить с то́лку (ru) pf (sbitʹ s tólku), темни́ть (ru) impf (temnítʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: са̀крити, замрљати

  Roman: sàkriti (sh), zamrljati (sh)

• Spanish: ofuscar (es)
• Turkish: gizlemek (tr), örtmek (tr), perde çekmek (tr)
• Ukrainian: заплутувати (zaplutuvaty), збивати з пантелику (zbyvaty z pantelyku)

alter code

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 混淆 (zh) (hùnxiáo/hùnyáo/hǔnxiáo)

• French: obscurcir (fr), occulter (fr)
• German: obfuskieren
• Japanese: 難読化する (なんどくかする, nandokuka suru)
• Norwegian: obfuskere
• Polish: zaciemniać (pl)
• Portuguese: ofuscar (pt)
• Spanish: ofuscar (es)

Adjective

obfuscate (comparative more obfuscate, superlative most obfuscate)

1. (obsolete) Obfuscated; darkened; obscured.
   • 1531, Thomas Elyot, The Boke Named the Governour […], London: […] Tho[mas] Bertheleti, →OCLC:

     Also the vertues beynge in a cruell persone be nat only obfuscate or hyd : But also lyke wyse as norysshynge meates and drynkes in an sycke body