obscurantism
[uh b-skyoo r-uh n-tiz-uh m, ob-skyoo-ran-tiz-uh m]
- opposition to the increase and spread of knowledge.
- deliberate obscurity or evasion of clarity.
Show More
Origin of obscurantism
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for obscurantism
Contemporary Examples
As they were only talking to themselves, obscurantism increased on a par with poverty and its ills.
Historical Examples
For simply differing from the obscurantism of his age, and having opinions of his own.
In the Heart of VosgesMatilda Betham-Edwards
Obscurantism is better than the light of incendiary torches.
Under Western EyesJoseph Conrad
Its greatest crime was obscurantism, which was war on knowledge and civilization.
FolkwaysWilliam Graham Sumner
In the East the harem is, as Vambéry well says, the "bulwark of obscurantism."
The New World of IslamLothrop Stoddard
In a certain sense every form of responsibility is obscurantism.
Suspended JudgmentsJohn Cowper Powys
Word Origin and History for obscurantism
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper