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obscure
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
obscure
I.adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a mist obscures/hides sth (=covers something so that you cannot see it)
▪ Mist obscured the ships in the harbor.
obscure the view (=make it difficult to see)
▪ A wall of mist obscured the view.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
more
▪ As a system gets larger the logic becomes more obscure, modification more risky and debugging increasingly problematic.
▪ The actor was a little more obscure about expressing his enthusiasm for Gingrich.
▪ I don't get the impression that they tried to make a statement by getting more and more obscure.
▪ The upward route is ten times harder and more obscure.
▪ The effect is still good, but harmonically more obscure and dissonant.
▪ I also tried to be a little more obscure and interesting in my song selections.
▪ By the 1740s, Stukeley's beliefs were becoming more obscure.
▪ War has had a searchlight effect on historians as well as contemporaries, rendering the area outside the beam yet more obscure.
most
▪ So you can find a diverse range of factoids and opinions on even the most obscure subjects.
▪ About the most obscure thing touted is the fountain in Fountain Hills.
▪ Then the Shorthand Subsection, which could attack the most obscure foreign shorthand systems.
rather
▪ The proposed arrangements however are rather obscure.
▪ The history of that volume in the following five or ten years, however, is rather obscure.
▪ The reasons for Government initiative in this area, however disjointed during this period 1966-77, are rather obscure.
▪ On the available photostat of the photostat some ranks and names are unfortunately rather obscure.
▪ In any event, the Labour party's suggestion of a minimum wage is in itself rather obscure and bizarre.
relatively
▪ Until her assassination she had led a quiet and relatively obscure life.
▪ The reasons for this have been widely discussed yet remain relatively obscure.
still
▪ Mr Serrano's motives are still obscure.
▪ This bureaucracy, for reasons still obscure, had decided that my posture was a disgrace and had to be corrected.
▪ The true nature of this revolt is still obscure.
▪ On November 24, they came to Madison and chose it, for reasons still obscure, over more water-blessed locations.
■ NOUN
corner
▪ They clattered on as far as the door; under workbenches, into cracks, finding every obscure corner.
▪ He merely watched the obscure corners of the busy planet and poked his stubby nose into dusty crannies.
origin
▪ The house of Albret had emerged from obscure origins to become the most important single lineage in the duchy.
▪ He is viewed as an outcast because of his obscure origin and mixed blood.
▪ Despite his obscure origins Warltire established himself as a fashionable itinerant lecturer on chemistry and a supplier of laboratory chemicals.
reason
▪ For some obscure reason you had to be taken over.
▪ Archer understood that he ran the risk of having his mandate withdrawn, and for some obscure reason he disliked the prospect.
▪ And that faced her with a course of action which, for some obscure reason, seemed rather distasteful now.
▪ Occasionally, for some obscure reason of her own, Elinor was pleasant.
▪ My colleagues and I will vote against the Bill, and not for any obscure reason.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ obscure regulations
▪ an obscure Flemish painter
▪ Best's art is eccentric and obscure.
▪ He's using an obscure old law to try to stop the new road being built.
▪ Picasso's first exhibition received only a short mention in an obscure Parisian newspaper.
▪ Publishers would not print his earlier poetry because they felt it was too obscure.
▪ The connection between the studies is somewhat obscure.
▪ The lines were written by an obscure English poet named Mordaunt.
▪ The Silver Apples are one of those obscure bands that you might hear about, but never actually hear.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ About the most obscure thing touted is the fountain in Fountain Hills.
▪ Each sprang from the obscure underside of the society.
▪ It was satisfying to send away and get this obscure stuff in the mail.
▪ Laurence Hurst has pursued an obscure hint of a gender-altering parasite among human beings.
▪ The proposed arrangements however are rather obscure.
▪ You're not expected to input anything too obscure though, so frustrations in this respect are kept to a minimum.
II.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
almost
▪ When they reached the stairway the flights of stairs were almost obscured by the thick clouds of smoke.
▪ On a sunny day, it shimmers brightly, almost obscuring the fine frescoes and reliefs that now adorn the structure.
▪ As discussed in Chapter I government statistics obscure almost as much as they reveal the extent of poverty among women.
completely
▪ It is almost completely obscured by the tree which surrounds it and hides the light under its foliage.
▪ And the once-glorious view of the declivity was now completely obscured by trees and brush.
▪ Eventually the hatch window was completely obscured by the smoke inside.
▪ It was about two hours after dark, when the moon was completely obscured by the monsoon clouds.
often
▪ Some stance, some action is taken, which often obscures the underlying dilemma.
▪ The plates of the oral frame are often obscured by thickened skin.
▪ Borders, passports and state institutions exist, but they often obscure deeper passions and identities.
▪ However, such simplistic answers often obscure rather more than they reveal.
■ NOUN
difference
▪ These simple comparisons obscure important differences among the presidential democracies that may have a bearing on democratic survival.
▪ Because of its application to both speech and writing it has helped to obscure the difference between the two.
▪ Differences at the lower end of the scale are obscured by the massive differences at the top end.
▪ In a key area Bush tried to obscure his differences with Gore.
face
▪ Her shoulder-length hair obscured her face, though Alice moved position to try and see more than a slab of cheek.
▪ Distance and haze obscured their messy faces.
▪ Duck sometimes has these patches obscure, when uniform face is best distinction from other two scoters.
fact
▪ But that debate should not obscure the fact that private investment was the key that unlocked the Channel Tunnel door.
▪ But it still obscures the fact that it is women who are raped.
▪ The authors say the argument has obscured the fact that, under either financing plan, there will be a funding gap.
▪ This should not obscure the obvious fact that they are also profit-making concerns, too.
▪ This striking rate of growth should not obscure the fact that the absolute level of industrial activity was still extremely low.
▪ Many teachers try to obscure the fact that they are teaching in a multiracial school.
▪ Second, the furore obscured the fact that Velikovsky was making an important point: catastrophes have occurred in the past.
▪ This obscures the fact that although States act as their representatives in international arenas, individuals remain as third parties.
plate
▪ The arms are long up to 10 times the disk diameter, covered with skin which obscures the underlying plates.
▪ And remember that it is illegal to drive with an obscured license plate.
▪ The jaws are armed with spine-like mouth papillae, otherwise covered by thick skin which obscures the associated plates.
▪ The arms may be covered by a thin covering of skin which may obscure the plates.
sun
▪ Fitful clouds were beginning to obscure the sun.
▪ The coppery smog was so thick it obscured the setting sun.
view
▪ A white mist obscured the view, gave the high-rise buildings a ghostly look.
▪ The trees have grown so tall, they obscure part of the view, she noted.
▪ What was it that was happening, with this stilted mist hanging, obscuring the view of all but the immediate path ahead.
▪ The cloud of smoke for some minutes completely enveloped the gunners and obscured them from view.
▪ At first Ellie was not sure who it was, as her father totally obscured her view.
▪ But smog obscures this view for all but a few days a year.
▪ Unfortunately a fourth hangs a tea-towel over the window at this point, obscuring my view.
▪ Merlyn was a dark column near a window, apparently looking out of it although the torrent obscured the view.
■ VERB
remain
▪ Policies emerge that are not merely compromises but also remain obscure on key points of implementation.
▪ Both the personality and the work remain famously obscure in a way which seems almost contrived.
tend
▪ The tactical model leads from a political position to pseudo-research, where facts are ignored because they might tend to obscure argument.
▪ These movements and earlier erosion have tended to obscure Mesozoic and Paleozoic structures.
▪ The use of quantification in studies of crime tends to obscure this diversity.
▪ Corruption in the process of translation has tended to obscure more than names.
▪ However, this relative prosperity tends to obscure the precarious living conditions of the 3.5m Kurds who live in the area.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Parts of the coast were obscured by fog.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Despite the obscuring veil of time, many researchers can make out the traces of the Supercontinent Cycle in the Precambrian.
▪ Everything upon which her eyes focused was obscured by a heavy veil.
▪ Fitful clouds were beginning to obscure the sun.
▪ If the finger is used, the image is partly obscured by the hand.
▪ It must be redesigned so that it illuminates the choices facing the country - not, as now, obscures them.
▪ Soon, they would catch up with the sun and obscure it.
▪ That banner ad obscured an ad on the Time site for PointCast, which competes with NewsPage.
▪ The staining frequently obscured the nucleus making assessment of the presence of nuclear staining difficult.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Obscure

Obscure \Ob*scure"\ ([o^]b*sk[=u]r"), v. i. To conceal one's self; to hide; to keep dark. [Obs.]

How! There's bad news. I must obscure, and hear it.
--Beau. & Fl.

Obscure

Obscure \Ob*scure"\, n. Obscurity. [Obs.]
--Milton.

Obscure

Obscure \Ob*scure"\ ([o^]b*sk[=u]r"), a. [Compar. Obscurer ([o^]b*sk[=u]r"[~e]r); superl. Obscurest.] [L. obscurus, orig., covered; ob- (see Ob-) + a root probably meaning, to cover; cf. L. scutum shield, Skr. sku to cover: cf. F. obscur. Cf. Sky.]

  1. Covered over, shaded, or darkened; destitute of light; imperfectly illuminated; dusky; dim.

    His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.
    --Prov. xx. 20.

  2. Of or pertaining to darkness or night; inconspicuous to the sight; indistinctly seen; hidden; retired; remote from observation; unnoticed.

    The obscure bird Clamored the livelong night.
    --Shak.

    The obscure corners of the earth.
    --Sir J. Davies.

  3. Not noticeable; humble; mean. ``O base and obscure vulgar.''
    --Shak. ``An obscure person.''
    --Atterbury.

  4. Not easily understood; not clear or legible; abstruse or incomprehensible; as, an obscure passage or inscription.

  5. Not clear, full, or distinct; clouded; imperfect; as, an obscure view of remote objects.

    Obscure rays (Opt.), those rays which are not luminous or visible, and which in the spectrum are beyond the limits of the visible portion.

    Syn: Dark; dim; darksome; dusky; shadowy; misty; abstruse; intricate; difficult; mysterious; retired; unnoticed; unknown; humble; mean; indistinct.

Obscure

Obscure \Ob*scure"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Obscured ([o^]b*sk[=u]rd"); p. pr. & vb. n. Obscuring.] [L. obscurare, fr. obscurus: cf. OF. obscurer. See Obscure,

  1. ] To render obscure; to darken; to make dim; to keep in the dark; to hide; to make less visible, intelligible, legible, glorious, beautiful, or illustrious.

    They are all couched in a pit hard by Herne's oak, with obscured lights.
    --Shak.

    Why, 't is an office of discovery, love, And I should be obscured.
    --Shak.

    There is scarce any duty which has been so obscured by the writings of learned men as this.
    --Wake.

    And seest not sin obscures thy godlike frame?
    --Dryden.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
obscure

c.1400, "dark," figuratively "morally unenlightened; gloomy," from Old French obscur, oscur "dark, clouded, gloomy; dim, not clear" (12c.) and directly from Latin obscurus "dark, dusky, shady," figuratively "unknown; unintelligible; hard to discern; from insignificant ancestors," from ob "over" (see ob-) + -scurus "covered," from PIE *(s)keu- "to cover, conceal" (see sky). Related: Obscurely.

obscure

early 15c., "to cover (something), cloud over," from obscure (adj.) or else from Middle French obscurer, from Latin obscurare "to make dark, darken, obscure," from obscurus. Related: Obscured; obscuring.

Wiktionary
obscure

  1. 1 dark, faint or indistinct. 2 hidden, out of sight or inconspicuous. 3 Difficult to understand. v

  2. (label en transitive) To render obscure; to darken; to make dim; to keep in the dark; to hide; to make less visible, intelligible, legible, glorious, beautiful, or illustrious.

WordNet
obscure

  1. adj. not clearly understood or expressed; "an obscure turn of phrase"; "an impulse to go off and fight certain obscure battles of his own spirit"-Anatole Broyard; "their descriptions of human behavior become vague, dull, and unclear"- P.A.Sorokin; "vague...forms of speech...have so long passed for mysteries of science"- John Locke [syn: vague]

  2. marked by difficulty of style or expression; "much that was dark is now quite clear to me"; "those who do not appreciate Kafka's work say his style is obscure" [syn: dark]

  3. difficult to find; "hidden valleys"; "a hidden cave"; "an obscure retreat" [syn: hidden]

  4. not famous or acclaimed; "an obscure family"; "unsung heroes of the war" [syn: unknown, unsung]

  5. not drawing attention; "an unnoticeable cigarette burn on the carpet"; "an obscure flaw" [syn: unnoticeable]

  6. remote and separate physically or socially; "existed over the centuries as a world apart"; "preserved because they inhabited a place apart"- W.H.Hudson; "tiny isolated villages remote from centers of civilization"; "an obscure village" [syn: apart(p), isolated]

obscure

  1. v. make less visible or unclear; "The stars are obscured by the clouds" [syn: befog, becloud, obnubilate, haze over, fog, cloud, mist]

  2. make unclear, indistinct, or blurred; "Her remarks confused the debate"; "Their words obnubilate their intentions" [syn: confuse, blur, obnubilate]

  3. make obscure or unclear; "The distinction was obscured" [syn: bedim, overcloud]

  4. make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or concealing; "a hidden message"; "a veiled threat" [syn: blot out, obliterate, veil, hide]

  5. make difficult to perceive by sight; "The foliage of the huge tree obscures the view of the lake" [syn: benight, bedim]

Wikipedia
Obscure (video game)

ObsCure is a survival horror video game developed by Hydravision Entertainment and published by DreamCatcher Interactive in North America, Ubisoft in China and MC2-Microïds in other territories for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It was released on October 1, 2004 in Europe and North America on April 6, 2005.

Obscure

Obscure may refer to:

  • ObsCure, a survival horror video game released in 2004
    • Obscure II, a sequel to the 2004 game, released in 2007
  • "Obscure" (song), by Japanese rock band Dir en grey, from Vulgar
  • Obscure Records, started by Brian Eno in 1975 to release works by lesser-known composers
  • Obscure vowel, a type of weak or reduced vowel sound

Usage examples of "obscure".

My answers were rather obscure in such matters as I was not specially acquainted with, but they were very clear concerning her disease, and my oracle became precious and necessary to her highness.

And, although amid the ever-growing degeneracy of mankind, this primeval word of revelation was falsified by the admixture of various errors, and overlaid and obscured by numberless and manifold fictions, inextricably confused, and disfigured almost beyond the power of recognition, still a profound inquiry will discover in heathenism many luminous vestiges of primitive Truth.

I took to mean some obscure mystical interpretation he had formulated in his own muddled, ageing brain.

As often as he is pressed by the demands of the Koreish, he involves himself in the obscure boast of vision and prophecy, appeals to the internal proofs of his doctrine, and shields himself behind the providence of God, who refuses those signs and wonders that would depreciate the merit of faith, and aggravate the guilt of infidelity.

As I explained to Mr Du Pont at our first game, I suffer from an obscure complaint - agoraphobia -the fear of open spaces.

That seemed to satisfy Amir in some obscure manner and he kissed each of her knees then placed his mouth to the soft muscle inside each limb and fiercely suckled and bit, leaving a bold mark like a brand on each.

Distinction between heliotropism and the effects of light on the periodicity of the movements of leaves--Heliotropic movements of Beta, Solanum, Zea, and Avena--Heliotropic movements towards an obscure light in Apios, Brassica, Phalaris, Tropaeolum, and Cassia--Apheliotropic movements of tendrils of Bignonia--Of flowerpeduncles of Cyclamen--Burying of the pods--Heliotropism and apheliotropism modified forms of circumnutation--Steps by which one movement is converted into the other Transversalheliotropismus or diaheliotropism influenced by epinasty, the weight of the part and apogeotropism--Apogeotropism overcome during the middle of the day by diaheliotropism--Effects of the weight of the blades of cotyledons--So called diurnal sleep--Chlorophyll injured by intense light--Movements to avoid intense light.

From the statue issued a great gasp of graying smoke, that clouded the apsis in which the throne stood and came gorging into the cella, obscuring the graven images along the walls.

As a mode of explaining the Scriptures, it is refuted by the fact that it is nowhere plainly stated in the New Testament, but is arbitrarily constructed by forced and indirect inferences from various obscure texts, which texts can be perfectly explained without involving it at all.

The darkness closed entirely over, and as the Archdeacon lay he knew for a while nothing but the waste of an obscure night.

His name was Argan, and he violently disagreed with his high priest on some obscure aspects of astrology.

After nearly draining the animal, it bloomed once again, the newer, brighter flowers almost obscuring the ones left unharvested from the pony that he and Ath had given it.

Hanging from an obscure rack, the searcher discovered back numbers of the Avifauna Journal.

Thomas, having no sword of his own, was standing in the porch of a church which stood hard beside the bridge from where he was shooting arrows up at the barbican tower, but his aim was obscured because a thatch in the old city was on fire and the smoke was curling over the river like a low cloud.

When Albert returned to his mother, he found her in the boudoir reclining in a large velvet armchair, the whole room so obscure that only the shining spangle, fastened here and there to the drapery, and the angles of the gilded frames of the pictures, showed with some degree of brightness in the gloom.