obscurantism

[uh b-skyoo r-uh n-tiz-uh m, ob-skyoo-ran-tiz-uh m]

See more synonyms for obscurantism on Thesaurus.com

noun

opposition to the increase and spread of knowledge.
deliberate obscurity or evasion of clarity.

Origin of obscurantism

1825–35; < French obscurantisme; see obscurant, -ism

Related formsob·scu·rant·ist, noun, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for obscurantism

backlash, right, relapse, regression, withdrawal, retrogression, retreat, counterrevolution, obscurantism, retrenchment, Toryism

Examples from the Web for obscurantism

Contemporary Examples of obscurantism

As they were only talking to themselves, obscurantism increased on a par with poverty and its ills.
Israel’s Religious Zionist Vs. Ultra-Orthodox Rift
Rabbi Daniel Landes
February 7, 2013

Historical Examples of obscurantism

For simply differing from the obscurantism of his age, and having opinions of his own.
In the Heart of Vosges
Matilda Betham-Edwards
Obscurantism is better than the light of incendiary torches.
Under Western Eyes
Joseph Conrad
Its greatest crime was obscurantism, which was war on knowledge and civilization.
Folkways
William Graham Sumner
In the East the harem is, as Vambéry well says, the "bulwark of obscurantism."
The New World of Islam
Lothrop Stoddard
In a certain sense every form of responsibility is obscurantism.
Suspended Judgments
John Cowper Powys

Word Origin and History for obscurantism

n.

"opposition to enlightenment," 1834, from German obscurantismus (18c.); see obscurant + -ism.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper