Join Us On

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

Thesaurus

Medical

Scrabble^®

Spanish Central

Browse Dictionary Browse Thesaurus

Get our free apps!iPhone•iPad•Android

Dictionary

¹obscure

adjective ob·scure \äb-ˈskyu̇r, əb-\

: not well-known : not known to most people

: difficult to understand : likely to be understood by only a few people

: difficult or impossible to know completely and with certainty

Full Definition of OBSCURE

a : dark, dim

b : shrouded in or hidden by darkness

c : not clearly seen or easily distinguished : faint <obscure markings>

: not readily understood or clearly expressed; also : mysterious

: relatively unknown: as

a : remote, secluded <an obscure village>

b : not prominent or famous <an obscure poet>

: constituting the unstressed vowel \ə\ or having unstressed \ə\ as its value

— ob·scure·ly adverb

— ob·scure·ness noun

See obscure defined for English-language learners

See obscure defined for kids

Examples of OBSCURE

Many people shared an obscure sense of gratification that [Dylan] Thomas had died young, as a poet should. —Adam Kirsch, New Yorker, 5 July 2004
But by 1830 the Boston Mission Board was desperate enough that it targeted an obscure sect of Oriental Christians, the Nestorians in faraway Iran, as a possibility for conversion. —Robert D. Kaplan, The Arabists, 1993
I knew they were special from their jeans and T-shirts, their knowing, ironic looks when obscure works of literature were referred to. —Julia Alvarez, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, 1991
Now at last Bacon could refer when he chose to his father's high position and his father's service—and no man could say it was done for self-aggrandizement, as a son who is obscure bespeaks the glory of past forebears. —Catherine Drinker Bowen, Francis Bacon, 1963
[+]more [-]hide

Origin of OBSCURE

Middle English, from Anglo-French oscur, obscur, from Latin obscurus

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to OBSCURE

Synonyms: ambiguous, arcane, cryptic, dark, deep, Delphic, double-edged, elliptical (or elliptic), enigmatic (also enigmatical), equivocal, fuliginous, inscrutable, murky, mysterious, mystic, nebulous, occult, opaque

Antonyms: accessible, clear, nonambiguous, obvious, plain, unambiguous, unequivocal

Synonym Discussion of OBSCURE

obscure, dark, vague, enigmatic, cryptic, ambiguous, equivocal mean not clearly understandable. obscure implies a hiding or veiling of meaning through some inadequacy of expression or withholding of full knowledge <obscure poems>. dark implies an imperfect or clouded revelation often with ominous or sinister suggestion <muttered dark hints of revenge>. vague implies a lack of clear formulation due to inadequate conception or consideration <a vague sense of obligation>. enigmatic stresses a puzzling, mystifying quality <enigmatic occult writings>. cryptic implies a purposely concealed meaning <cryptic hints of hidden treasure>. ambiguous applies to language capable of more than one interpretation <an ambiguous directive>. equivocal applies to language left open to differing interpretations with the intention of deceiving or evading <moral precepts with equivocal phrasing>.

Rhymes with OBSCURE

abjure, adjure, Adour, allure, amour, Ashur, assure, brochure, ceinture, cocksure, coiffure, conjure, contour, couture, demure, detour, dirt-poor, endure, ensure, faubourg, for sure, Fraktur, grandeur, gravure, guipure, hachure, immure, impure, insure, inure, kultur, land-poor, langur, ligure, manure, mature, mohur, parure, perdure, procure, rondure, secure, siddur, tambour, tandoor, tenure, Uighur, unmoor, velour, velure

²obscure

verb ob·scure \äb-ˈskyu̇r, əb-\

: to make (something) difficult to understand or know : to make (something) obscure

: to hide or cover (something) : to be in front of (something) so that it cannot be seen

ob·scuredob·scur·ing

Full Definition of OBSCURE

transitive verb

: to make dark, dim, or indistinct

: to conceal or hide by or as if by covering

: to reduce (a vowel) to the value \ə\

— ob·scu·ra·tion \ˌäb-skyu̇-ˈrā-shən\ noun

See obscure defined for English-language learners

Examples of OBSCURE

Throughout this book, the ground of fact becomes obscured entirely by a deep layer of speculative quicksand. —Helen Vendler, New Republic, 10 June 2002
But evening comes or even noon and some combination of nervous tensions obscures my memories of what whiskey costs me in the way of physical and intellectual well-being. —John Cheever, New Yorker, 13 Aug. 1990
… [Mr. Schuller's]… “Early Jazz” brought a sometimes Olympian precision to writing about an art that has often languished in the whale's belly of sociology, obscured by pretension and blubbery thinking. —Stanley Crouch, New York Times Book Review, 2 Apr. 1989
It was eight o'clock when we landed; we walked for a short time on the shore enjoying the transitory light, and then retired to the inn and contemplated the lovely scene of waters, woods, and mountains, obscured in darkness, yet still displaying their black outlines. —Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein, 1818
[+]more [-]hide