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:
You’re not playing new obscure songs that no one cares about; you want to give people a rich emotional experience.
From Los Angeles Times โ Nov. 4, 2026
The history of paper sons is obscure even to most Chinese-Americans.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Nov. 1, 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
Instead, I propped my elbow on the reading table and buttressed my fingertips against my forehead to obscure my face.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
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
For though there was nothing in his flesh and blood and muscle that suggested an inebriate father, yet in his profounder and obscurer being he was Fulleymore Ransome's son.
From The Combined Maze by May Sinclair
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
"The obscurest epoch is today," wrote Robert Louis Stevenson.
From Time Magazine Archive
Coetzee calls him "the obscurest of the obscure, so obscure as to be a prodigy."
From Time Magazine Archive
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
And if Swinburne is one of the obscurest of English poets, it is due in large part to this same element of motion.
From Shelburne Essays, Third Series by Paul Elmer More
But they should not be confused by what it obscures.
From Salon โ Oct. 23, 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
Now, time is running out on the bird as the rising tide of concrete, scaffolding and rebar obscures Pinky from pedestrian view along the south side of Colorado Boulevard.
From Los Angeles Times โ Jun. 29, 2026
His hazmat suit obscures a lot of his face.
From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga
Scientists suspect that the incomplete geographic distribution of ancient fossils has obscured important details about when and where this group first emerged.
From Science Daily โ Nov. 1, 2026
That’s what happens when a subject is obscured by layers of semi-permeable barriers of their own making: Eventually, the image distorts.
From Salon โ Oct. 28, 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
Sparra warriors appeared in swarms that almost obscured the sky above the Abbey.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
The deals were often named after city streets or U.S. presidents, obscuring who was borrowing the insurers’ money or the quality of those investments.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Sep. 28, 2026
However, those same cold traps could also collect organic compounds released by visiting spacecraft, potentially obscuring the pristine material scientists hope to study.
From Science Daily โ Jul. 13, 2026
In total, more than 1.7 million satellites could soon be lighting up the night sky, obscuring or blotting out the view of ground-based telescopes.
From Barron's โ Jul. 1, 2026
When rolling up Vin Scully Avenue, a white smoke hung like a curtain behind the small hills on the other side of outfield walls, obscuring the normally scenic view of the San Gabriel Mountains.
From Los Angeles Times โ Jun. 21, 2026
The entire perimeter is bordered by a thick band of trees, obscuring any possible view.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
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