obscurantism

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

/ əbˈskyʊər ənˌtɪz əm, ˌɒb skyʊˈræn tɪz əm /

opposition to the increase and spread of knowledge.

deliberate obscurity or evasion of clarity.

RELATED WORDS

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. 2019

Obscurantist, name given to an opponent to modern enlightenment as professed by the devotees of modern science and philosophy.
The Nuttall Encyclopaedia|Edited by Rev. James Wood
The only celestial messenger who has discussed this matter with mankind was something of an obscurantist.
Science and Medieval Thought|Sir Thomas Clifford Allbutt
You are an enemy of enlightenment, you are an obscurantist, Briquet.
He Who Gets Slapped|Leonid Nikolayevich Andreyev
This deficiency played into the hands of the reactionary and obscurantist.
Reconstruction in Philosophy|John Dewey

No one can venture to dispute these decisions on pain of being reckoned reactionary and obscurantist.
The Relations between the Laws of Babylonia and the Laws of the Hebrew Peoples|C. H. W. Johns

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