obscure

Meaning

Adj

1. Dark, faint or indistinct.
2. Hidden, out of sight or inconspicuous.
3. Difficult to understand; abstruse.
4. Not well-known.
5. Unknown or uncertain; unclear.

Verb

1. (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.
2. (transitive) To hide, put out of sight etc.
3. (intransitive, obsolete) To conceal oneself; to hide.

Synonyms

dark

dim

vague

unclear

indistinct

darken

cover

hide

ambiguous

conceal

gloomy

unknown

murky

cloud

☁️

hazy

abstruse

mysterious

faint

hidden

unintelligible

dusky

blur

incomprehensible

cloudy

☁️

fog

🌫️

obnubilate

dull

recondite

confuse

befog

blurred

block out

veil

unfamiliar

eclipse

equivocal

shade

strange

disguise

screen

opaque

shadowy

nameless

becloud

cryptic

obliterate

isolated

foggy

🌁

insignificant

mist

Translations

obscur

oscuro

dunkel

obscurcir

duister

onbekend

esconder

verbergen

donker

obscuro

encobrir

unklar

obskur

vago

oscuro

Pronounced as (IPA)

/əbˈskjʊə(ɹ)/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: obscure

In summary

From Middle English obscure, from Old French obscur, from Latin obscūrus (“dark, dusky, indistinct”), from ob- + *scūrus, from Proto-Italic *skoiros, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃-. Doublet of oscuro.