obfuscate
to make unclear or hard to understand, especially deliberately: Do not obfuscate the issue with irrelevant detail.
to confuse or bewilder: The authors achieve their purpose without obfuscating the reader by using too much technical terminology.
to darken.
to make something unclear or hard to understand, especially deliberately; speak or write evasively or obscurely: Notice how she obfuscates when asked directly about her conversations with the defendant.
Origin of obfuscate
1Other words for obfuscate
Opposites for obfuscate
Other words from obfuscate
- ob·fus·ca·tion [ob-fuh-skey-shuhn], /ˌɒb fəˈskeɪ ʃən/, noun
- ob·fus·ca·to·ry [ob-fuhs-kuh-tawr-ee], /ɒbˈfʌs kəˌtɔr i/, adjective
- un·ob·fus·cat·ed, adjective
Words Nearby obfuscate
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use obfuscate in a sentence
He reserves particular condemnation for phrases like “let me be clear,” which is used here in Hawley’s tweet as code for “let me obfuscate.”
Conservatives crying ‘Orwell’ are downright Orwellian | Ron Charles | January 11, 2021 | Washington PostThe opposite is true as well—an overwhelming data dump can be designed to obfuscate the facts on the ground.
ESG investing is bigger than ever. Here’s how you can save the world, and your portfolio | kdunn6 | October 11, 2020 | FortuneSo I’m really worried in some ways about these technical standards becoming a kind of checkbox that needs to be ticked, and that then ignores or obfuscates the other forms of harms that these technologies have when they’re applied.
Eight case studies on regulating biometric technology show us a path forward | Karen Hao | September 4, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewIt’s something that’s easy to go back to – despite the obfuscating verbiage, the characters are working through the same things we are today.
Using a service called a Virtual Private Network could help organizers obfuscate their Internet traffic.
Going to a Protest? Here's How to Protect Your Digital Privacy | Patrick Lucas Austin | June 17, 2020 | Time
British Dictionary definitions for obfuscate
/ (ˈɒbfʌsˌkeɪt) /
to obscure or darken
to perplex or bewilder
Origin of obfuscate
1Derived forms of obfuscate
- obfuscatory, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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