Obscureness

ob·scure  (b-skyr, b-)

adj. ob·scur·er, ob·scur·est

1. Deficient in light; dark.

2.

a. So faintly perceptible as to lack clear delineation; indistinct. See Synonyms at dark.

b. Indistinctly heard; faint.

c. Linguistics Having the reduced, neutral sound represented by schwa ().

3.

a. Far from centers of human population: an obscure village.

b. Out of sight; hidden: an obscure retreat.

4. Not readily noticed or seen; inconspicuous: an obscure flaw.

5. Of undistinguished or humble station or reputation: an obscure poet; an obscure family.

6. Not clearly understood or expressed; ambiguous or vague: "an impulse to go off and fight certain obscure battles of his own spirit" (Anatole Broyard). See Synonyms at ambiguous.

tr.v. ob·scured, ob·scur·ing, ob·scures

1. To make dim or indistinct: Smog obscured our view. See Synonyms at block.

2. To conceal in obscurity; hide: "Unlike the origins of most nations, America's origins are not obscured in the mists of time" (National Review).

3. Linguistics To reduce (a vowel) to the neutral sound represented by schwa ().

n.

Something obscure or unknown.

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[Middle English, from Old French obscur, from Latin obscrus; see (s)keu- in Indo-European roots.]

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ob·scurely adv.

ob·scureness n.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	obscureness - the state of being humble and unimportant humbleness, lowliness, unimportance obscurity - an obscure and unimportant standing; not well known; "he worked in obscurity for many years"
	2.	obscureness - the state of being indistinct or indefinite for lack of adequate illumination obscurity semidarkness - partial darkness
	3.	obscureness - the quality of being unclear or abstruse and hard to understand abstruseness, obscurity, reconditeness incomprehensibility - the quality of being incomprehensible