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)
-
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:
And while the reports are often voluminous, it is hard to predict what seemingly obscure data points could become essential in a moment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Nearly a century later, when kids spend half as much time outside as their parents did, City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield wants to cut the obscure law from the books.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
“You take the obscure office of the Treasury to which World Liberty has applied: If they deny the application, you can assume that person will lose their job. It’s obvious on its face.”
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
But a big economic structural shift can turn an obscure judgement into a real source of gains or losses.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
Art is, however, much more than decoration, for it is laden with meaning, even if that content is sometimes slender or obscure.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
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
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
Financial thrombosis is not unknown as one of the obscurer forms of megalomania.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 158, June 2, 1920 by Various
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
Is it nothing to take a mirage for a landscape, nothing to be hoodwinked of your confidence, to see high noon dissolve into obscurest night, a diamond into pinchbeck?
From Eden An Episode by Saltus, Edgar
In the largest cities, in the obscurest villages, tears flowed from all eyes.
From The Branding Needle, or The Monastery of Charolles A Tale of the First Communal Charter by Sue, Eugène
The hagiographic tone of “The Man Will Burn” obscures that.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 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 ● Jul. 7, 2026
That narrative obscures the real success and failure of the man who presided as Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987-2006.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
The result is a metaphysical model that, at best, lacks clarity, and at worst obscures the very nature of reality.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 8, 2026
To Fenn, the smallpox historian, the squabble over the number of deaths and the degree of blame obscures something more important.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Additionally, the sell-off in memory stocks and hyperscalers’ debt has obscured strength in other sectors, which have seen the benefits of a rotation out of those stocks, they said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
Embassy job that obscured his true position, CIA station chief.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
But levels of fine particulate matter spiked sharply during the main show, leaving people watching from the south with an obscured view as smoke came billowing their way.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
When they reached Lafayette Park, where the fencing had yet to be removed, they were again disappointed by the obscured view of the White House.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
With something of a start, I did remember: a windy autumn night, full moon obscured by dusty rags of cloud.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Now, policies are seemingly directed at obscuring conditions in the for-profit facility operated by The GEO Group.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 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 ● 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 ● Jul. 1, 2026
QLAYAA, Lebanon — The bells rang, their peals obscuring the buzz of the Israeli drone overhead as the casket of Father Pierre al-Rahi arrived at the parish he had served.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2026
His hair falls across his face, obscuring his eyes momentarily from view.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
