obscure

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. verb make less visible or unclear
  2. verb make unclear, indistinct, or blurred
  3. verb make obscure or unclear

Etymology

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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

befog, becloud, obnubilate, haze over, fog, cloud, mist

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