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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



... exhibit the full extent of his learning and his perfect command of verse. These poems are in a sense valuable as repertoires of antiquities; but their style is on the whole bad, and infinite patience is required to clear up their numerous and obscure allusions. The best extant specimen is the Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius; the most characteristic is the Alexandra or Cassandra of Lycophron, the obscurity of ...
— Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia

... fellows as mischievous as they were cowardly; they would not come out and be killed, but they skulked in the desert, and hid in masquerade. But why should gentlemen in office, opulent and happy, set about worrying a handful of idiots, old, or poor, or boys, or women, or obscure, or amiable and well-meaning men, who were but a remnant of a former generation, and as little connected with the fanatics of Carthage, Alexandria, or Rome, as the English freemasons may seem to be with their namesakes on the continent? True, ...
— Callista • John Henry Cardinal Newman

... inhabitants of Fairy-land of whom "Popular Tales" tell, who are better known to the outer world than Cinderella—the despised and flouted younger sister, who long sits unnoticed beside the hearth, then furtively visits the glittering halls of the great and gay, and at last is transferred from her obscure nook to the place of honor justly due to her tardily acknowledged merits. Somewhat like the fortunes of Cinderella have been those of the popular tale itself. Long did it dwell beside the hearths of the common people, utterly ignored by their superiors in ...
— Russian Fairy Tales - A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-lore • W. R. S. Ralston

... and went into an obscure part of the town, to a low shop where iron, old rags, bottles, bones, and greasy offal were bought. A gray-haired rascal, of great ...
— Short Stories Old and New • Selected and Edited by C. Alphonso Smith

... themselves in a line near a large tree, they each lit a small fire, and had a supply of dry leaves to give effect to the acting. On their commencing their chanting, the men came forward, emerging from the darkness into the obscure light shed by the yet uncherished fires, like spectres. After some performance, at a given signal, a handful of dry leaves was thrown on each fire, which instantly blazing up lighted the whole scene, and shewed the dusky figures of the performers ...
— Expedition into Central Australia • Charles Sturt


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