obscure

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French oscur, obscur, from Latin obscurus Date: 15th century 1. a. dark, dim b. shrouded in or hidden by darkness c. not clearly seen or easily distinguished ; faint <

obscure markings

> 2. not readily understood or clearly expressed; also mysterious 3. relatively unknown: as a. remote, secluded <

an obscure village

> b. not prominent or famous <

an obscure poet

> 4. constituting the unstressed vowel \ə\ or having unstressed \ə\ as its value • obscurely adverb • obscureness noun Synonyms: obscure, dark, vague, enigmatic, cryptic, ambiguous, equivocal mean not clearly understandable. obscure implies a hiding or veiling of meaning through some inadequacy of expression or withholding of full knowledge <

obscure poems

>. dark implies an imperfect or clouded revelation often with ominous or sinister suggestion <

muttered dark hints of revenge

>. vague implies a lack of clear formulation due to inadequate conception or consideration <

a vague sense of obligation

>. enigmatic stresses a puzzling, mystifying quality <

enigmatic occult writings

>. cryptic implies a purposely concealed meaning <

cryptic hints of hidden treasure

>. ambiguous applies to language capable of more than one interpretation <

an ambiguous directive

>. equivocal applies to language left open to differing interpretations with the intention of deceiving or evading <

moral precepts with equivocal phrasing

>. II. transitive verb (obscured; obscuring) Date: 15th century 1. to make dark, dim, or indistinct 2. to conceal or hide by or as if by covering 3. to reduce (a vowel) to the value \ə\ • obscuration noun III. noun Date: 1667 obscurity