obscure
[adjective]
Synonyms:
- vague, ambiguous, arcane, confusing, cryptic, enigmatic, esoteric, mysterious, opaque, recondite
- indistinct, blurred, cloudy, dim, faint, gloomy, murky, shadowy
- little-known, humble, lowly, out-of-the-way, remote, undistinguished, unheard-of, unknown
[verb]
Synonyms:
- conceal, cover, disguise, hide, obfuscate, screen, veil

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Antonyms: lucid, famed, famous, clear, illuminate, illumine
Contrasted words: clear, lucid, bright, brilliant, luminous, central, urban, populous, definite, explicit, obvious, express, unambiguous, unequivocal, celebrated, distinguished, named, notable, noted, noteworthy, renowned, well-known, brighten, light (up), lighten, clarify, enlighten, elucidate, exemplify, explain
Related Idioms: back of beyond, off the beaten track (or path), in the boondocks (or sticks)
Related Words: clouded, cloudy, fuliginous, shadowy, shady, umbrageous, distant, far, far-off, close, hidden, odd, secluded, sequestered, solitary, blind, inaccessible, difficult, incomprehensible, inexplicable, puzzling, unfathomable, illegible, abstruse, Delphian, enigmatic, esoteric, inscrutable, mysterious, mystic, mystical, inconclusive, indecisive, indefinite, humble, lowly, minor, unimportant, inconspicuous, undistinguished, blear, blur, fuzz, conceal, dim out, hide, screen, shade, shroud, bemask, camouflage, cloak, cover, disguise, mask, veil, belie, falsify, misrepresent

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English Thesaurus: hide, conceal, cover up, disguise, camouflage, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. ob‧scure¹ /əbˈskjʊə $ -ˈskjʊr/ adjective
[Date: 1300-1400; Language: Old French; Origin: Latin obscurus]

1. not well known and usually not very important:
an obscure poet
The details of his life remain obscure.

2. difficult to understand:
obscure legal phrases
For some obscure reason, the group is very popular.
—obscurely adverb

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. obscure² verb [transitive]

1. to make something difficult to know or understand:
Recent successes have obscured the fact that the company is still in trouble.

2. to prevent something from being seen or heard clearly:
The view was obscured by mist.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

obscure
adj.
VERBS be, seem | become The origins of the tradition have become obscure.
remain The motives behind this decision remain somewhat obscure.
ADV. extremely, very | completely, totally | largely | fairly, rather, relatively, somewhat

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

obscure
verb
ADV. completely, totally | almost | largely | half, partially, partly, slightly, somewhat | deliberately All trace of his working-class background was deliberately obscured
easily Solo passages in this register are very easily obscured by other instruments.
VERB + OBSCURE serve to, tend to The emphasis on social integration often served to obscure the real differences within the community. | allow sth to
PREP. behind/beneath The moon was obscured behind a wall of cloud.
PHRASES obscure the fact that … These figures obscure the fact that a lot of older people live in great poverty.
obscure sth from view The house was obscured from view by a high hedge.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

hide to make something difficult to see or find, or to not show your true feelings:
He hid the gun in his pocket.
She tried to hide her anger.
The actress put up a hand to hide her face from the cameras.
conceal formal to hide something, especially by carefully putting it somewhere. Also used when talking about hiding your feelings, especially in negative sentences:
Several kilos of drugs were concealed in the back of the truck.
He could not conceal his feelings any longer.
The girl quickly concealed the photograph she had been gazing at.
cover up to put something over another thing that you do not want people to see, in order to hide it completely:
People cover up cracks with wallpaper or tiles.
I used some make-up to cover up the spots.
She was wearing a thin shawl to cover up the bruises on her arm.
disguise to make someone or something seem like a different person or thing, so that other people cannot recognize them:
She managed to get into the camp by disguising herself as a soldier.
The men had disguised the vessel as fishing boat.
camouflage to hide something by covering it with materials that make it look like the things around it:
We camouflaged the plane by covering it with leaves.
The troops used charcoal to camouflage their faces.
Soldiers had camouflaged the trucks with branches and dirt.
obscure literary to make it difficult to see something clearly:
The view was obscured by mist.
His body was found, partially obscured by bushes, at the bottom of a shallow canyon.
mask to make something less noticeable, for example a taste, a smell, a sound, or a feeling:
The lemon helps to mask the taste of the fish.
Helen had turned on the radio to mask the noise of the traffic.
He did little to mask his contempt.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲