obfuscate

verb, adj — 4 senses

obfuscate

verb

UK /ˈɒbfəskeɪt/ · US /ˈɑbfəskeɪt/

Etymology The adjective is first attested in 1487, in Middle English, the verb in 1536; either borrowed from Middle French obfusquer, offusquer, from Old French offusquer, or directly from Late Latin obfuscātus, offuscātus, the perfect passive participle of obfuscō, offuscō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from Latin ob- + fuscō (“to darken”). Doublet of dusken (“to darken, make obscure”).

1

To make dark; to overshadow.

2

To deliberately make more confusing in order to conceal the truth.

  • obfuscate facts
  • Can weakness be really obfuscated?
2 more examples
  • Before leaving the scene, the murderer set a fire in order to obfuscate any evidence of his identity.
  • When asked if Kelly could have been more transparent or truthful, that official wrote: “In this White House, it’s simply not in our DNA. Truthful and transparent is great, but we don’t even have a coherent strategy to obfuscate.”2018 February 13, Anonymous White House Official, “White House reels as FBI director contradicts official claims about alleged abuser”, in Washington Post:
3

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences To alter code while preserving its behavior but concealing its structure and intent.

  • We need to obfuscate these classes before we ship the final release.
Synonyms
darken, eclipse, overshadow, confuse, muddle, obscure
Antonyms
explain, simplify
Derived terms
deobfuscate, obfuscatable, obfuscator, unobfuscatable
Related terms
obfuscation, obfuscatory, obfuscous

obfuscate

adj

Etymology The adjective is first attested in 1487, in Middle English, the verb in 1536; either borrowed from Middle French obfusquer, offusquer, from Old French offusquer, or directly from Late Latin obfuscātus, offuscātus, the perfect passive participle of obfuscō, offuscō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from Latin ob- + fuscō (“to darken”). Doublet of dusken (“to darken, make obscure”).

1

Obsolete Obfuscated; darkened; obscured.

  • Also the vertues beynge in a cruell persone be nat only obfuscate or hyd : But also lyke wyse as norysshynge meates and drynkes in an sycke body1531, Thomas Elyot, The Boke Named the Governour […], London: […] Tho[mas] Bertheleti, →OCLC:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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