Obscure
[əb'skjʊə] or [əb'skjʊr]
Definition
(verb.) make obscure or unclear; 'The distinction was obscured'.
(verb.) make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or concealing; 'a hidden message'; 'a veiled threat'.
(verb.) reduce a vowel to a neutral one, such as a schwa.
(verb.) make less visible or unclear; 'The stars are obscured by the clouds'; 'the big elm tree obscures our view of the valley'.
(adj.) not clearly understood or expressed; 'an obscure turn of phrase'; 'an impulse to go off and fight certain obscure battles of his own spirit'-Anatole Broyard; 'their descriptions of human behavior become vague, dull, and unclear'- P.A.Sorokin; 'vague...forms of speech...have so long passed for mysteries of science'- John Locke .
(adj.) not drawing attention; 'an unnoticeable cigarette burn on the carpet'; 'an obscure flaw' .
(adj.) not famous or acclaimed; 'an obscure family'; 'unsung heroes of the war' .
Typist: Zamenhof--From WordNet
Definition
(superl.) Covered over, shaded, or darkened; destitute of light; imperfectly illuminated; dusky; dim.
(superl.) Of or pertaining to darkness or night; inconspicuous to the sight; indistinctly seen; hidden; retired; remote from observation; unnoticed.
(superl.) Not noticeable; humble; mean.
(superl.) Not easily understood; not clear or legible; abstruse or blind; as, an obscure passage or inscription.
(superl.) Not clear, full, or distinct; clouded; imperfect; as, an obscure view of remote objects.
(a.) 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.
(v. i.) To conceal one's self; to hide; to keep dark.
(n.) Obscurity.
Checked by Leda
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Dark, gloomy, rayless, darksome, unilluminated, unenlightened, dusky, sombre, sombrous, lurid, shadowy, murky, dim.[2]. Unintelligible, incomprehensible, indistinct, indefinite, vague, doubtful, enigmatical, mysterious, mystic, mystical, recondite, abstruse, cabalistic, transcendental, high.[3]. Unknown, undistinguished, nameless, unnoted, unnoticed, renownless, unhonored, humble, inglorious.
v. a. Darken, cloud, eclipse, dim, shade, obfuscate, cast in the shade.
Typist: Theodore
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Conceal, darken
ANT:Reveal, make_known, discover
SYN:Dark, dim, lowering, indistinct, enigmatical, uncertain, doubtful,unascertained, humble, unintelligible, mean
ANT:Bright, luminous, distinct, lucid, plain, plain_spoken, intelligible,unambiguous, ascertained, eminent, prominent
Inputed by Edna
Definition
adj. dark: not distinct: not easily understood: not clear legible or perspicuous: unknown: humble: unknown to fame: living in darkness.—v.t. to darken: to make less plain: to render doubtful.—ns. Obscū′rant one who labours to prevent enlightenment or reform; Obscū′rantism opposition to inquiry or reform; Obscū′rantist an obscurant.—adj. pertaining to obscurantism.—n. Obscūrā′tion the act of obscuring or state of being obscured.—adv. Obscūre′ly.—ns. Obscūre′ment; Obscūre′ness; Obscū′rer; Obscū′rity state or quality of being obscure: darkness: an obscure place or condition: unintelligibleness: humility.
Edited by Elise
Examples
- Let it be somewhere beyond reach; in some obscure life--or, better still, in some obscure death. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- I felt as if, from the order of the systematic world, I had plunged into chaos, obscure, contrary, unintelligible. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- He resumed-- And since I am myself poor and obscure, I can offer you but a service of poverty and obscurity. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- The conception always precedes the understanding; and where the one is obscure, the other is uncertain; where the one fails, the other must fail also. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- I was able to invent names for my parents, whom I pretended to be obscure people in the province of Gelderland. Jonathan Swift. Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.
- The vault above became obscured, lightning flashed from the heavy masses, followed instantaneously by crashing thunder; then the big rain fell. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- It was as the day went on that the clouds gathered, and the brightness of the morning became obscured. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- The atmosphere was much denser then, usually great cloud masses obscured the sun, frequent storms darkened the heavens. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Such parts, whether more or less modified, unless their common origin became wholly obscured, would be serially homologous. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- If he were groping in the dark, he could not do better than do his utmost to clear away those clouds in which so much was confused and obscured. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Again and again he crosses and obscures the disc I want always to see clear; ever and anon he renders me to you a mere bore and nuisance. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Far back in the obscuring gloom of a prehistoric antiquity, man wore probably only the hirsute covering which nature gave him. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- The social aim of education and its national aim were identified, and the result was a marked obscuring of the meaning of a social aim. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- But this latter argument, obscuring the majesty of the former, was one too many, for Ben answered contemptuously, The more spooneys they! George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Tom was last; and remained standing in the obscurest part of the room, near the door. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
Typed by Essie