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Obscure   /əbskjˈʊr/   Listen
adjective
Obscure  adj.  (compar. obscurer; superl. obscurest)  
1.
Covered over, shaded, or darkened; destitute of light; imperfectly illuminated; dusky; dim. "His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness."
2.
Of or pertaining to darkness or night; inconspicuous to the sight; indistinctly seen; hidden; retired; remote from observation; unnoticed. "The obscure bird Clamored the livelong night." "The obscure corners of the earth."
3.
Not noticeable; humble; mean. "O base and obscure vulgar." "An obscure person."
4.
Not easily understood; not clear or legible; abstruse or incomprehensible; as, an obscure passage or inscription.
5.
Not clear, full, or distinct; clouded; imperfect; as, an obscure view of remote objects.
Obscure rays (Opt.), those rays which are not luminous or visible, and which in the spectrum are beyond the limits of the visible portion.
Synonyms: Dark; dim; darksome; dusky; shadowy; misty; abstruse; intricate; difficult; mysterious; retired; unnoticed; unknown; humble; mean; indistinct.



verb
Obscure  v. t.  (past & past part. obscured; pres. part. obscuring)  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." "Why, 't is an office of discovery, love, And I should be obscured." "There is scarce any duty which has been so obscured by the writings of learned men as this." "And seest not sin obscures thy godlike frame?"



Obscure  v. i.  To conceal one's self; to hide; to keep dark. (Obs.) "How! There's bad news. I must obscure, and hear it."



noun
Obscure  n.  Obscurity. (Obs.)






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Obscure" Quotes from Famous Books



... surgeon is a physician who can operate, and the public have begun to realize the fact that it is useless to try to relieve an acute abdominal lesion by diet or drugs. Not many years ago cases of acute, obscure or chronic affections of the abdomen which were admitted into hospital were sent as a matter of course into the medical wards, and after the effect of drugs had been tried with expectancy and failure, the services of a surgeon were ...
— Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia

... might be, I was anxious to give them a few minutes' law before thrusting myself upon their society. I had known Parelli's well in the old days, and remembering the numerous looking-glasses which decorated its walls, I thought it probable that I should be able to find some obscure seat, from which I could obtain a view of their table without being too conspicuous myself. Still, it seemed advisable to give them time to settle down to dinner first, so, stopping at a newspaper shop at the corner, I spun out another minute ...
— A Rogue by Compulsion • Victor Bridges

... of communication between different parts of the world seems to have brought the whole globe into a very small focus, for obscure places, which would be unknown, one would think, beyond their own immediate neighbourhoods, are frequently well within the cognisance of persons living in far-distant quarters. An instance of this is given by the postmaster of Epworth, a village near to Doncaster. ...
— A Hundred Years by Post - A Jubilee Retrospect • J. Wilson Hyde

... has Time hastened to bring that retributive justice which falls alike on empires and individuals. The son of "The Man" moulders in an Austrian tomb, leaving no trace that he has lived; while the lineal descendant of the obscure Creole, of the deposed empress, of the divorced wife, sits on the throne of Clovis and Charlemagne, of Capet and Bonaparte. Within the brief space of one generation, within the limit of one man's memory, vengeance has revolved full circle; ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 7, May, 1858 • Various

... authors of the proviso being aware of the uses to which the fund would be applied, but causing its insertion for the purpose of preventing its erection from being attributed to the influence of Mr. Adams. To such disreputable subterfuges party spirit can condescend, to gratify malignity, or to obscure merit from the knowledge of the world, to the power of which it is itself ...
— Memoir of the Life of John Quincy Adams. • Josiah Quincy


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