obfuscation
Britishnoun
Explanation
The act of obscuring something to make it more difficult to understand is called obfuscation. Lawyers are sometimes accused of obfuscation, since legal contracts can be so difficult to understand. The word obfuscation is from the verb obfuscate, which itself comes from the Latin word obfuscare, meaning "to darken." The confusion that results when something is muddled or obfuscated is also called obfuscation. If you intentionally make something more complex or more difficult to see or understand, then you are guilty of obfuscation.
Vocabulary lists containing obfuscation
Paper Towns
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Flora and Ulysses
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Strange the Dreamer
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
With the Court divided 4-4, it was former Justice Anthony Kennedy who gave the chief justice — and obfuscation — the win.
From Salon • Apr. 22, 2026
Some of its obfuscation tools, designed to bypass censors in restricted countries, have not performed well in highly restrictive environments like China and Russia.
From Salon • Mar. 21, 2026
"They did so through a tangled web of lies, obfuscation, and concealment."
From Barron's • Mar. 20, 2026
Liaw and his affiliates engaged in “a tangled web of lies, obfuscation and concealment — all to drive sales and generate revenues in violation of U.S. law,” federal prosecutors said in a press release.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 19, 2026
It was dishonest to act like Margo hadn’t participated in her own obfuscation.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
