Obscure (Verb)
Meaning 1
Make less visible or unclear; "The stars are obscured by the clouds"; "the big elm tree obscures our view of the valley".
Classification
Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling.
Examples
- Dense foliage obscures the hidden waterfall from view.
- The artwork's significance is obscured by its age and wear.
- Overgrown weeds obscure the names on the old headstones.
- Advertisements placed on the website obscure some of the articles' text.
- Tall skyscrapers obscure the view of the historic building.
Synonyms
Hypernyms
Meaning 2
Reduce a vowel to a neutral one, such as a schwa.
Classification
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc..
Examples
- The vowel in 'the' can become reduced to a neutral sound and obscure its original 'e' sound in casual speech.
- In dialects of non-rhotic English the word 'camera' often has the 'e' after the 'r' obscured by being reduced to a schwa sound.
- It is common in many varieties of English worldwide to obscure unstressed vowels in the middle of a sentence to a mid-central vowel.
- The phenomenon of vowel obscuring does not only pertain to vowels in unstressed syllables but can also affect vowels in otherwise fully pronounced syllables.
- Reducing the vowel 'e' in the name 'Melanie' to a near neutral sound can obscure the original vowel's sound.
Meaning 3
Make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or concealing; "a hidden message"; "a veiled threat".
Classification
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc..
Examples
- The secret message was obscure, and only experts could decipher its meaning.
- The company tried to obscure the real cause of the financial loss to avoid public backlash.
- The artist deliberately used elements to obscure the subject's face in the painting.
- She obscure the true nature of her relationship by referring to him only as a friend.
- The trees and thick foliage obscure the entrance to the hidden waterfall.
Synonyms
Hypernyms
Meaning 4
Make unclear, indistinct, or blurred; "Her remarks confused the debate"; "Their words obnubilate their intentions".
Classification
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting.
Examples
- The complexity of the plot obscured the author's intentions, making it hard to understand the novel's message.
- Her vague statements obscured the facts, leading to further confusion.
- The writer's use of jargon obscured the simplicity of the concept.
- The poet's ambiguous language obscured the meaning of the poem, making it accessible to interpretation.
- The politician's evasive responses obscured their true stance on the issue.
Synonyms
Hypernyms
Hyponyms
Meaning 5
Make obscure or unclear; "The distinction was obscured".
Classification
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc..
Examples
- Her background noise in the audio recording obscured the guitarist's solo in several places during the song.
- The explanation provided by the teacher only managed to obscure the concept rather than clarify it for the students.
- A series of poorly drawn diagrams in the textbook obscured the complexity of the molecular structure being described.
- The translation of the ancient poem obscured its deeper meaning due to the nuances of the original language.
- The unfamiliar terminology in the article obscured the findings of the research for readers without a medical background.