See Also: Obscure(medicine)
obscure(1)(dictionary)
obscure(2)(dictionary)
clair-obscure(dictionary)
obscure 1, adjective(dictionary)
obscure 2, verb(dictionary)

obscure(1) (iou)



obscure adjective & noun. LME.
[Old & mod. French obscur Latinized form of earlier oscur, escur from Latin obscurus dark.]
A. adjective.
Dark, dim; gloomy, dismal. LME.
E. K. Kane The day misty and obscure.
fig. Not clear or plain to the mind; vague, uncertain; not easily understood; not clearly expressed. LME.
T. H. Huxley The origin of hail is obscure. H. E. Bates Out of her obscure reflections she suddenly emerged clear-headed. L. Gordon Eliot was at his most obscure in these poems.
a. Indistinctly perceived, felt, or heard; spec. (of a vowel) weak and centralized (cf. INDETERMINATE vowel). LME.
b. Lacking clarity of form or outline; indistinct, faint. L16.
S. Johnson What is distant is in itself obscure, and..easily escapes our notice.
Of colour: almost black, sombre; dingy, dull. L15.
Of a place: remote from observation; hidden, secret. L15.
Aldous Huxley Gumbril Senior occupied a..house in a little obscure square not far from Paddington.
Inconspicuous, undistinguished; (of a person) not illustrious or famous; humble. (Earlier in OBSCURELY 1.) M16.
V. Woolf Quite obscure people, people of no importance whatsoever.
Of, pertaining to, or frequenting the darkness; concealed from sight by darkness. E17.
Of a ray or radiation: invisible. arch. L18.
b. noun.
Obscurity, darkness. Chiefly poet. M17.
Indistinctness of outline or colour. L18.
obscureness noun (now rare) E16.
obscurify verb trans. (rare) make obscure; hide: E17-E19.