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 (ə).
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 (ə).
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 ( ə )
-
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 ( ə )
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 1350–1400; Middle English, from Old French oscur, obscur, from Latin obscūrus “dark”
Explanation
If something is obscure, it's vague and hard to see. Be careful if you're driving in heavy rain — 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:
As the city and county fight to take over LAHSA’s duties, an obscure decision-making body called the Continuum of Care has been placed in the spotlight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
Corsica is also within the image, although clouds obscure much of the island.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
They want to expose the obscure operations, to implore users to reconsider their relationship with these platforms.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026
The common link seems to be Daisy Wolcott, a wealthy eccentric who devoted her life and fortune to the discovery and preservation of obscure vegetation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Too much of it and we obscure the all-pervasive sense of contingency as well as the problematic character of the choices facing the revolutionary generation.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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 ● Apr. 27, 2017
I suggested moving to an obscurer table in the rear.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 19, 2010
There he demanded one of the obscurer works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
From Time Magazine Archive
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
For instance, Rembrandt always chooses to represent the exact force with which the light on the most illumined part of an object is opposed to its obscurer portions.
From Modern Painters. Vol. III (of V) Containing Part IV. Of Many Things by John Ruskin
Feel grateful we live in a time when the obscurest, niche-iest, weirdest series you love got a chance to exist.
From Slate ● 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
As modest in her tastes as the obscurest matron in the land, Victoria fled from the glamor of honors.
From The Branding Needle, or The Monastery of Charolles A Tale of the First Communal Charter by Eugène Sue
Adelle shrank into the obscurest corner and her anemonelike charm, tentatively putting forth, was quite lost in the scramble.
From Clark's Field by Robert Herrick
Attributing accountability to artificial intelligence obscures the human decisions that led to these outcomes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
But his intimidating onyx armor obscures all that, much in the way Darth Vader’s helmet and cloak overcompensate for his shriveled form.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 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 ● Jun. 29, 2026
But he believes the complicated ownership picture that now obscures who owns some of these buildings - or who the tenants are - is another difficulty in protecting at risk sites.
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026
A thin Stand Of oak trees obscures the cornfields that stretch out to the horizon.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
It has obscured Singapore's skyline and forced some schools to close in Malaysia.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
The scheme, according to the league, obscured the true source of more than $1.1 billion in funding.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Rare compounds can easily be obscured by other chemicals that occur in much larger quantities.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026
He wore a dark hoodie cinched around his face and a rubber mask that obscured everything but his eyes.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
In daylight, it was simple to find the place, but nightfall had obscured the hills.
From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson
While most of the players wore the shirts fully, Mbappe, Vinicius and Konate had theirs rolled up to around chest height, obscuring some of the slogan.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
The firm has also been accused of obscuring its production processes from the public eye.
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
But for my money, there is too much tedious, mealymouthed chaff obscuring what should be her larger point.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
Now, policies are seemingly directed at obscuring conditions in the for-profit facility operated by The GEO Group.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
It was growing colder, unseasonably cold for the middle of May, and the fog, though not heavy, was rising off the water, thickening imperceptibly, and obscuring the lowcountry in its passage across the land.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
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