obscure
[ uhb-skyoor ]
/ əbË?skyÊŠÉ™r /
Save This Word!
adjective, ob·scur·er, ob·scur·est.
verb (used with object), ob·scured, ob·scur·ing.
noun
SYNONYMS FOR obscure
4 blurred, veiled.
ANTONYMS FOR obscure
QUIZZES
THINK YOU’VE GOT A HANDLE ON THIS US STATE NICKNAME QUIZ?
Did you ever collect all those state quarters? Put them to good use on this quiz about curious state monikers and the facts around them.
Question 1 of 8
Mississippi’s nickname comes from the magnificent trees that grow there. What is it?
Origin of obscure
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Old French oscur, obscur, from Latin obscÅ«rus “darkâ€
synonym study for obscure
historical usage of obscure
The adjective obscure first appears in English about 1425 (if not earlier); the verb appears around the same time. The adjective obscure comes from Anglo-French and Middle French oscur, obscur “without light, dark (in color), hard to understand,†from Latin obscūrus “dim, dark, dingy, faint,†an adjective made up of the prefix ob- “toward, against†and the adjective scūrus, which does not occur in Latin.
The verb obscure may simply derive from the English adjective by functional shift (a change in the grammatical function of a word). Alternatively, the verb may derive from Middle French obscurer “to make or become dark†or from Latin obscÅ«rÄ?re “to cover, obscure, overshadow, conceal,†a verb derived from obscÅ«rus.
The unrecorded Latin adjective scÅ«rus comes from the Proto-Indo-European root (s)keu-, (s)kÅ«- (with variants) “to cover, envelop†( scÅ«rus therefore means “covered overâ€). In Germanic the variant skeu- forms the base of the noun skeujam “cloud cover, cloud,†becoming skyÌ„ “cloud†in Old Norse, which is the immediate source of English sky (a 13th-century borrowing). The variant skÅ«- forms the noun skÅ«maz “scum†(because it covers the water), which becomes scum in English.
The verb obscure may simply derive from the English adjective by functional shift (a change in the grammatical function of a word). Alternatively, the verb may derive from Middle French obscurer “to make or become dark†or from Latin obscÅ«rÄ?re “to cover, obscure, overshadow, conceal,†a verb derived from obscÅ«rus.
The unrecorded Latin adjective scÅ«rus comes from the Proto-Indo-European root (s)keu-, (s)kÅ«- (with variants) “to cover, envelop†( scÅ«rus therefore means “covered overâ€). In Germanic the variant skeu- forms the base of the noun skeujam “cloud cover, cloud,†becoming skyÌ„ “cloud†in Old Norse, which is the immediate source of English sky (a 13th-century borrowing). The variant skÅ«- forms the noun skÅ«maz “scum†(because it covers the water), which becomes scum in English.
OTHER WORDS FROM obscure
Words nearby obscure
obscene, obscenity, obscurant, obscurantism, obscuration, obscure, obscurity, obscurum per obscurius, obsecrate, obsequence, obsequent
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for obscure
British Dictionary definitions for obscure
Derived forms of obscure
obscuration (ˌɒbskjÊŠË?reɪÊ?É™n), nounobscurely, adverbobscureness, nounWord Origin for obscure
C14: via Old French from Latin obscūrus dark
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012