obscure
Americanadjective
-
(of meaning) not clear or plain; ambiguous, vague, or uncertain.
an obscure sentence in the contract.
- Antonyms:
- certain
-
not clear to the understanding; hard to perceive.
obscure motivations.
-
(of language, style, a speaker, etc.) not expressing the meaning clearly or plainly.
-
indistinct to the sight or any other sense; not readily seen, heard, etc.; faint.
- Synonyms:
- veiled
- Antonyms:
- clear
-
inconspicuous or unnoticeable.
the obscure beginnings of a great movement.
-
of little or no prominence, note, fame, or distinction.
an obscure French artist.
- Synonyms:
- unknown, undistinguished
- Antonyms:
- conspicuous, noted
-
far from public notice, worldly affairs, or important activities; remote; retired.
an obscure little town.
- Synonyms:
- inconspicuous, secluded
-
lacking in light or illumination; dark; dim; murky.
an obscure back room.
- Antonyms:
- bright
-
enveloped in, concealed by, or frequenting darkness.
-
not bright or lustrous; dull or darkish, as color or appearance.
-
(of a vowel) having the reduced or neutral sound usually represented by the schwa (ษ).
verb (used with object)
-
obscures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
obscured,
past participle, past
-
obscuring
present participle
-
to conceal or conceal by confusing (the meaning of a statement, poem, etc.).
-
to make dark, dim, indistinct, etc.
-
to reduce or neutralize (a vowel) to the sound usually represented by a schwa (ษ).
noun
adjective
-
unclear or abstruse
-
indistinct, vague, or indefinite
-
inconspicuous or unimportant
-
hidden, secret, or remote
-
(of a vowel) reduced to or transformed into a neutral vowel ( ษ )
-
gloomy, dark, clouded, or dim
verb
-
to make unclear, vague, or hidden
-
to cover or cloud over
-
phonetics to pronounce (a vowel) with articulation that causes it to become a neutral sound represented by ( ษ )
noun
Synonym Usage
See mysterious. See dark.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
obscurationnoun
-
obscurenessnoun
-
subobscurenessnoun
-
unobscurenessnoun
-
subobscureadjective
-
unobscureadjective
-
unobscuredadjective
-
obscuredlyadverb
-
obscurelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
obscuresimple
-
obscuressimple
-
have obscuredperfect
-
has obscuredperfect
-
am obscuringprogressive
-
are obscuringprogressive
-
is obscuringprogressive
-
have been obscuringperfect progressive
-
has been obscuringperfect progressive
Past
-
obscuredsimple
-
had obscuredperfect
-
was obscuringprogressive
-
were obscuringprogressive
-
had been obscuringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of obscure
First recorded in 1350โ1400; Middle English, from Old French oscur, obscur, from Latin obscลซrus โdarkโ
Explanation
If something is obscure, it's vague and hard to see. Be careful if you're driving in heavy rain โ the painted lines can be obscure. Obscure comes from Latin obscurus, which can mean "dark, dim," "unclear, hard to understand," or "insignificant, humble." We tend to use obscure in the metaphorical senses: an obscure sound is unclear, an obscure village is hidden away in the countryside, and an obscure poet is little known and probably insignificant. Obscure can also be used as a verb. If you get really nervous when you speak during a debate, your embarrassing twitches and shaking hands can obscure your argument.
Vocabulary lists containing obscure
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
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The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 2
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for Middle School Students, List 3
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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.
See Examples For:
But there are also some more obscure races on the L.A.
From Los Angeles Times โ Oct. 30, 2026
The stock market will face stiff headwinds over the next 12 months, according to an obscure indicator with an enviable track record.
From MarketWatch โ Oct. 27, 2026
The United States and allies warned in July that North Korean workers were using AI tools to further obscure their true identities.
From Barron's โ Oct. 22, 2026
Separately, BBC Verify has traced one of the most viral AI-generated images circulating on social media, which supposedly shows an elderly couple being robbed and left in their underwear in Paris, to an obscure website.
From BBC โ Oct. 21, 2026
It was all dim and obscure in his mind, the gebbeth, the burning staff, the running, the whispering, the gate.
From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin
Or as Folger’s artistic director, Janet Griffin, said to me one time, in reference to another of Shakespeare’s obscurer dramas, “Pericles”: “We are looking for what the play is saying to us today.”
From Washington Post โ Apr. 27, 2017
I suggested moving to an obscurer table in the rear.
From The Guardian โ Jun. 19, 2010
Even her obscurer books have something about them that attracts popular attention, for more than most stylists, she writes about the common gist of things.
From Time Magazine Archive
There he demanded one of the obscurer works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
From Time Magazine Archive
They who do know some of those obscurer details, are well aware of the origin whence she drew her masterly portrait, as they know who was Mrs. Poyser, who Tom Tulliver, and who Hetty Sorrel.
From Women Novelists of Queen Victoria's Reign A Book of Appreciations by Mrs. Alexander
Feel grateful we live in a time when the obscurest, niche-iest, weirdest series you love got a chance to exist.
From Slate โ Dec. 20, 2018
Coetzee calls him "the obscurest of the obscure, so obscure as to be a prodigy."
From Time Magazine Archive
"The obscurest epoch is today," wrote Robert Louis Stevenson.
From Time Magazine Archive
In this “Book of Martyrs,” gathered from all quarters, and chronicling the obscurest individuals, many a reader, kindling over the lengthened page, dwelt on his own domestic tale in the volume of the nation.
From Amenities of Literature Consisting of Sketches and Characters of English Literature by Isaac Disraeli
He was for a good many years the obscurest man of letters in America.
From The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 2, May, 1851 by Various
Military authorities put effort into messaging that ultimately obscures responsibility and causality, and family members who speak out sometimes fear real repercussions for themselves and loved ones.
From Salon โ Sep. 19, 2026
There’s a certain philosophy to dressing the body in Japan where the clothing obscures the body.
From Los Angeles Times โ Sep. 11, 2026
The next time the Moon obscures as much of the Sun on the British Isles will be in 2081, and the next total solar eclipse in the UK will be in 2090.
From BBC โ Aug. 11, 2026
But more than that, it obscures the reality and erases the history of transgender lives by diminishing the significant time, money, and effort many transgender people spend to align their body with their sex.
From Slate โ Jul. 7, 2026
He stops so abruptly a cloud of dust temporarily obscures his feet.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
It’s all obscured by layers upon layers of fact, fiction, perception and question.
From Salon โ Oct. 25, 2026
Gray regularly mines his commercial archive for images of entertainers, though he frequently presents them with their faces obscured, as a stand-in for larger ideas.
From Los Angeles Times โ Oct. 20, 2026
It has obscured Singapore's skyline and forced some schools to close in Malaysia.
From BBC โ Oct. 13, 2026
The stampede to cut high-end liability has obscured the damage done to the economy.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Oct. 6, 2026
Their face is still obscured, but I see the top of a head nod.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
Such an approach risks obscuring human responsibility and leaving those who suffer harm to confront a faceless entity.”
From Los Angeles Times โ Nov. 3, 2026
However, a weather front moving into the far north may bring increasing cloud, potentially obscuring views in some areas.
From BBC โ Nov. 1, 2026
Natural climate patterns can temporarily make the planet warmer or cooler, potentially obscuring longer trends.
From Science Daily โ Oct. 30, 2026
The detractors were nervous that Gannon was obscuring clearcut evidence that both G42 and the U.A.E. shouldn’t be trusted.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Jul. 19, 2026
Her- schel had been misled because of the copious amount of obscuring dust in the direction of Sagittarius; he had no way to know of the enormous numbers of stars beyond.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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