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obscurantism

[uh b-skyoo r-uh n-tiz-uh m, ob-skyoo-ran-tiz-uh m]
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noun
  1. opposition to the increase and spread of knowledge.
  2. deliberate obscurity or evasion of clarity.
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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 obscurantist

rightist, rigid, regressive, counterrevolutionary, traditionalist, right, obscurantist, Tory, ultraconservative, diehard, royalist, mossback, die-hard, orthodox, traditional, retrogressive, traditionalistic, old-line, standpat, intransigent

Examples from the Web for obscurantist

Historical Examples of obscurantist

  • But with Pascal we get clean away from the poison-trail of the obscurantist.

    Suspended Judgments

    John Cowper Powys

  • This deficiency played into the hands of the reactionary and obscurantist.

  • He thinks that the motives of Shi Hwang-ti were obscurantist.

  • You are an enemy of enlightenment, you are an obscurantist, Briquet.

    He Who Gets Slapped

    Leonid Nikolayevich Andreyev

  • For the obscurantist, belief is made easy, and the apologies for the Faith can be comparatively straightforward.

Word Origin and History for obscurantist

n.

1841; see obscurantism + -ist.

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obscurantism

n.

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

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper