obscure
English
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French obscur, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin obscūrus (“dark, dusky, indistinct”), possibly, from ob (“over”) + -scurus (“covered”), from root scu- (“cover”), seen also in scutum (“a shield”); see scutum, sky.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /əbˈskjʊə(ɹ)/, /əbˈskjɔː(ɹ)/
- (General American) IPA(key): /əbˈskjʊɹ/, /əbˈskjɝ/
Audio (US) (file)
- Rhymes: -ʊə(ɹ), -ɔː(ɹ), -ɜː(ɹ)
- Hyphenation: ob‧scure
Adjective
obscure (comparative obscurer or more obscure, superlative obscurest or most obscure)
- Dark, faint or indistinct.
- (Can we date this quote?), (translator), Dante Alighieri, Inferno, 1, 1-2
- I found myself in an obscure wood.
- Bible, Proverbs xx. 20
- His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.
- (Can we date this quote?), (translator), Dante Alighieri, Inferno, 1, 1-2
- Hidden, out of sight or inconspicuous.
- c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
- The obscure bird / Clamoured the livelong night.
- (Can we date this quote by Sir J. Davies and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- the obscure corners of the earth
- Difficult to understand.
- 2013 August 3, “The machine of a new soul”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:
- The yawning gap in neuroscientists’ understanding of their topic is in the intermediate scale of the brain’s anatomy. Science has a passable knowledge of how individual nerve cells, known as neurons, work. It also knows which visible lobes and ganglia of the brain do what. But how the neurons are organised in these lobes and ganglia remains obscure.
- an obscure passage or inscription; The speaker made obscure references to little-known literary works.
- Not well-known.
- Unknown or uncertain; unclear.
- The etymological roots of the word "blizzard" are obscure and open to debate.
Usage notes
- The comparative obscurer and superlative obscurest, though formed by valid rules for English, are less common than more obscure and most obscure.
Synonyms
- (dark): cimmerian, dingy; See also Thesaurus:dark
- (faint or indistinct): fuzzy, ill-defined; See also Thesaurus:indistinct
- (hidden, out of sight): occluded, secluded; See also Thesaurus:hidden
- (difficult to understand): fathomless, inscrutable; See also Thesaurus:incomprehensible
- (not well-known): enigmatic, esoteric, mysterious; See also Thesaurus:arcane
Antonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
dark, faint or indistinct
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difficult to understand
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not well-known
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Verb
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- (transitive) To render obscure; to darken; to make dim; to keep in the dark; to hide; to make less visible, intelligible, legible, glorious, beautiful, or illustrious.
- (Can we date this quote by William Shakespeare and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- They are all couched in a pit hard by Herne's oak, with obscured lights.
- (Can we date this quote by William Wake and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- There is scarce any duty which has been so obscured by the writings of learned men as this.
- (Can we date this quote by William Shakespeare and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- (transitive) To hide, put out of sight etc.
- 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:
- But Richmond […] appeared to lose himself in his own reflections. Some pickled crab, which he had not touched, had been removed with a damson pie; and his sister saw, peeping around the massive silver epergne that almost obscured him from her view, that he had eaten no more than a spoonful of that either.
- (Can we date this quote?), Bill Watterson, Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat, page 62
- I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity.
- (intransitive, obsolete) To conceal oneself; to hide.
- (Can we date this quote by Beaumont and Fletcher and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- How! There's bad news. / I must obscure, and hear it.
- (Can we date this quote by Beaumont and Fletcher and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
Synonyms
Translations
to darken, make faint
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to hide, put out of sight
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Further reading
- “obscure”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “obscure”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams
French
Pronunciation
Adjective
obscure
Anagrams
Latin
Adjective
(deprecated template usage) obscūre
References
- “obscure”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “obscure”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- obscure in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
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- Rhymes:English/ʊə(ɹ)
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