obscure
verbEtymology 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.
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.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:
- c. 1688', William Wake, Preparation for Death There is scarce any duty which has been so obscured in the writings of learned men as this.
2
To hide, put out of sight etc.
- It has been little altered over the years save for the addition of a platform awning which rather obscures the arcaded entrance to the booking hall.1957 August 23, H. P. White, “The Tonbridge-Hastings Line and its Traffic”, in Railway Magazine, page 529:
- But Richmond[…]appeared to lose himself in his own reflections. Some pickled crab, which he had not touched, had been removed with a damson pie; and his sister saw, peeping around the massive silver epergne that almost obscured him from her view, that he had eaten no more than a spoonful of that either.1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:
2 more examples
- However, many people—including railwaymen—are only beginning to realise how great is the amount of civil engineering work necessary to achieve adequate clearances for high-voltage overhead equipment under bridges and tunnels; what is involved in the re-signalling needed to permit the increased throughput of traffic (in some places it is unavoidable, to afford better sighting of signals obscured by overhead electrical gear); [...].1961 December, “Planning the London Midland main-line electrification”, in Trains Illustrated, page 719:
- I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity.1994, Bill Watterson, Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat, page 62:
3
Obsolete To conceal oneself; to hide.
- How! There's bad news. / I must obscure, and hear it.1623 (first performance), John Fletcher, William Rowley, “The Maid in the Mill”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act IV, scene ii: