Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To make so confused or opaque as to be difficult to perceive or understand: "A great effort was made . . . to obscure or obfuscate the truth” ( Robert Conquest).
- v. To render indistinct or dim; darken: The fog obfuscated the shore.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
Wiktionary
- v. To make dark; overshadow
- v. To deliberately make more confusing in order to conceal the truth.
- v. To alter code while preserving its behavior but conceal its structure and intent.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Obfuscated; darkened; obscured.
- v. To darken; to obscure; to becloud.
- v. To confuse; to bewilder; to make unclear.
WordNet 3.0
- v. make obscure or unclear
Etymologies
- Latin obfuscāre, obfuscāt-, to darken : ob-, over; see ob- + fuscāre, to darken (from fuscus, dark).
Examples
“However, let's distract and obfuscate from the glaring flaws of the current administration and revel in the hate for an administration that is no longer in office.”
“And the prize for the most uses of the word obfuscate or derivatives thereof goes to…”
“You STILL haven’t stepped up and argued the points, why you obfuscate is beyond me.”
“When it came to discussing facts, she seemed to obfuscate the issue (Sarah, if you're reading this, don't be embarrassed to look up "obfuscate").”
“I've just highlighted this post on Twitter and in my resource about How to write an Artist's Statement with the suggestion that it's absolutely essential reading anytime an artist feels tempted to "obfuscate"!”
“Also, good use of the word obfuscate … and the Marxist stuff … but I know what obfuscate means … and I don’t know anything about Marx himay”
Cooperative Blog » Blog Archive » Explaining the credit crisis
“If you want it can also "obfuscate" the variables which saves bandwith and as side effect make them harder to reuse (not something you'd want as open source developer).”
“Your email address will be hidden, but it is still recommended that you "obfuscate" your email address, or simply leave a homepage URL.”
“So, if indeed we are called to participate, to care for and protect water and climate and all living things as God's will, why then do we obfuscate and deny the research and science affirming positions quoted here?”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘obfuscate’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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common UA vocab. in US
Interesting, there is a traditional vocabulary of an Ukrainian, that differs from vocabulary of average American. It would be nice to explore it.
jackdaw, incongruous, cassock, vivid, magpie, humdrum, amongst, wonder, wandering, wheedling, wheedle, osseous and 368 more...
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cicatrix
scar tissue
minatory, naira, Cluniac, embracive, prolix, hierophant, timorous, adduce, veracious, dysphoric, sang-froid, vitiate and 414 more...
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lost in translation
As a native Spanish speaker, I always found it easy to find words that were missing in the English language that conveyed the precise meaning I cared for in Spanish. In undertaking a writing projec...
surreptitious, elusive, nondescript, demeanor, mannerisms, nonsensical, numb, obfuscate, pervaded, preemptive, stagnate, resilient and 5 more...
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In the News
Words from politics, news, and business
sedition, juridical, feckless, austerity, debenture, sovereign, subterfuge, amicus, obfuscate, transparency, usurp, paradox and 26 more...
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My favorites
foible, sidereal, amygdala, woodnote, cogitate, silvern, ollalieberry, ramify, diaphanous, surreality, myopia, subcelestial and 64 more...
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Autumn Anomy
treescape, anomy, autumn, abacus, gable, gelid, frondescence, orbicular, adversaria, arborescent, obfuscate, vulneration and 1 more...
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mental health; "anyone's lived experience"
emotions, thoughts, contemplations, delusions, hallucinations, sorrows, feelings,
anhedonia, I only cried once..., alexithymia, obfuscate, affable, integrety
jwjarvis the thesaurus is pretty mediocre. not even illuminate for an antonym. who's in charge of it? how can we help improve it? Nov 18, 2010
choregurl "They don't want you to know that, so they obfuscate the debate by fabricating a disinformation campaign."
From a blog by Rep. Jim McDermott
The Huffington Post article dated August 12, 2009
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-jim-mcdermott/he-neglected-to-tell-you_b_257472.html Aug 13, 2009
bmevans "And late at night my memory obfuscates my line of sight"
--Girlyman, "This is Me" (2004) Mar 25, 2008
victoriapl "Mulder, not everything is a labyrinth of dark conspiracy and not everybody is plotting to deceive, inveigle and obfuscate."
X-files episode "Teliko" Dec 2, 2007