Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The act of obfuscating or obscuring; also, that which obscures; obscurity; confusion.
Wiktionary
- n. uncountable The act or process of obfuscating, or obscuring the perception of something; the concept of concealing the meaning of a communication by making it more confusing and harder to interpret.
- n. uncountable Confusion, bewilderment, or a baffled state resulting from something obfuscated, or made more opaque and muddled with the intent to obscure information.
- n. countable A single instance of intentionally obscuring the meaning of something to make it more difficult to grasp.
- n. computing, uncountable The option to alter computer code, preserving its behavior but concealing its structure and intent.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The act of darkening or bewildering; the state of being darkened.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the activity of obscuring people's understanding, leaving them baffled or bewildered
- n. confusion resulting from failure to understand
- n. darkening or obscuring the sight of something
Etymologies
- From Latin obfuscationem (15th century), from Latin obfuscare ("to darken"), from ob ("over") + fuscāre ("to make dark"), from fuscus ("dark") (Wiktionary)
Examples
“The only way to deal with bluster and obfuscation is to keep hammering at the facts and spelling out their implications.”
Entitlement Arithmetic, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“Except for a very few reasonably tangible questions, most offered by Democratic Senators, this hearing has been an exercise in obfuscation and outright racist demogogary.”
“Hitler pics on Obama and the true Hitlers of the Homeland, Liebenstrom, livingroom scam to sway the masses in obfuscation/deceptions.”
Source: Joe Wilson racking up the dollars after 'you lie' comment
“Such multiyear obfuscation is egregious even by Wall Street standards.”
“Authenticity over sham and obfuscation is a winner!”
“Obtuse, obfuscation is manipulative and misleading! art in kingwood”
“More obfuscation from the guy who is an expert at misinformation!”
“I was trying to do a piece on the artist/writer/arch-prankster Stewart Home and the issue of identity and got lost in obfuscation, trying to work out what is real from what is not, what is playful fibs, and what is truth.”
Ballardian » Escaping the gaze: A review of John Foxx's Tiny Colour Movies
“Double points for the use of the word obfuscation!”
Lanny Davis: It's Hard To Criticize Obama "Without Being Accused Of Playing Race Card"
“David, I find it ironic that you use the word obfuscation or a vairant 4 times.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘obfuscation’.
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This is not a list
you know that thing where the Eskimos have 50 words for snow?
little white lie, big lie, the Big Lie, economical with t..., muddy the waters, fabrication, deception, lies, damned lies..., façade, slander, omission, web of lies and 159 more...
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POL - scandalous (single words only)
acolyte, archrival, backhander, backlash, baksheesh, bashing, boo, bribery, cadre, chicanery, clash, coercion and 256 more...
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POL - scandalous (words and collocati...
Words and collocations associated with political scandal
blow the whistle, boo, cronyism and rigging, democratic deficit, denigrate, dirty linen, fiasco, finger pointing a..., graft, hidden account, hush money, illicit financing... and 578 more...
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#faveword
Words chosen as favorites for the Twitter hashtag #faveword.
autumnal, grotto, chiaroscuro, sfumato, homunculus, zing, zest, effervescent, bewitch, avuncular, susurrus, Styrofoam and 205 more...
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Favorite Words Ending In 'tion
obfuscation, delineation, ratiocination, proprioception, gesticulation, oscillation, undulation, fasciculation, confabulation, interdiction, juxtaposition, commiseration and 41 more...
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ob-
to; toward; before; opposed to; against; upon; over
Note: can change formobsequious, object, obnoxiousobfuscate, obnoxious, objurgate, omission, occur, offer, oppose, opposition, obtuse, obstruct and 11 more...
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MyList
peter out, fraying, jump on the bandw..., indignation, eclectic, hung up, salutary, hoary, warped, glaring, blue-collar, concomitant and 105 more...
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cindywrites's Words
chiaroscuro, mollycoddle, feckless, evocative, provocative, invocation, beckon, allay, becalm, console, lull, soothe and 479 more...
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Vocab
Words that I come across, and go blank, or want to clarify.
nefarious, edifice, malevolent, ostensible, folderol, bauble, livid, amnesty, calculus, saddlery, maisonette, cuisse and 423 more...
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List Erine
cool mint antiseptic
shalom, cattywampus, bourgeoisie, aerophile, traverse, grotto, epicurean, ex cathedra, nautilus, epitaph, lathe, continuum and 753 more...
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Aequoria's list
affect, deleterious, nuance, pliant, verbatim, pertinent, latter, municipality, provincial, voyeuristic, circumlocution, wane and 798 more...
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My Treasures
Well everyone's lists are favourites or pets or useful terms, no? These are mine.
mephitic, cagastric, wulm, scaevity, seplasiary, sevidical, sevous, soleated, soloecal, sputcheon, stagma, temerate and 173 more...
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stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
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So little time...
i really need to bulk up my vocabulary
coccydynia, maudlin, etiolate, cenotaph, chthonic, orotund, eclat, spendthrift, incendiary, corpulent, parsimonious, bescumber and 91 more...
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Tory's First Wordie List
perambulate, mumpsimus, euphoric, peripatetic, mellifluous, soporific, neologism, nihilism, nepotism, effervescent, lascivious, esoteric and 217 more...
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MyVocab
A list of words to remember to incorporate into my vocabulary.
An extensive vocabulary aids expressions and communication.
Vocabulary size has been directly linked to reading com...acquiesce, self-disparaging, receded, abrogate, robust, putative, capricious, imperious, lexicon, syntax, semantics, pith and 139 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for obfuscation.
lbeaumont Eschew obfuscation! Oct 10, 2010
lil_grammar_nazi My dad used this word in conversation the other day - and I had to look it up.
A good word that most people don't know :) May 5, 2009
bilby Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! Oct 15, 2008
yarb Ha ha!
See midnight. Oct 15, 2008
seanahan from a recent conversation of mine with a bot...
Seanahan: Hi. What's up?
Bot: October.
Seanahan: You are the computer.
Bot: No, you are.
Seanahan: Oh no I'm not!
Bot: Bald obfuscation. I expected better.
Seanahan: I'm leaving.
Bot: Shall I open the door?
Seanahan: It's midnight... And it's so dark...
Bot: If it wasn't dark it probably wouldn't be midnight.
Seanahan: You are not a real person. Oct 15, 2008