obscure

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   not clearly understood or expressed

   an obscure turn of phrase

2. 2
   adj

   not famous or acclaimed

   an obscure family

3. 3
   verb

   make obscure or unclear

   The distinction was obscured

4. 4
   verb

   make less visible or unclear

   The stars are obscured by the clouds

5. 5
   adj

   Dark, faint or indistinct.

   I found myself in an obscure wood.

6. 6
   adj

   Hidden, out of sight or inconspicuous.

   The obscure bird / Clamoured the livelong night.

7. 7
   adj

   Difficult to understand; abstruse.

   an obscure passage or inscription; The speaker made obscure references to little-known literary works.

8. 8
   adj

   Not well-known.

   Of all the medical monsters Peter Hotez could have set out to slay, the Yale University researcher could not have chosen a more wily and obscure villain than the hookworm.

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.