Origin: Latin suffix -ure
Obscure has 13 different meanings across 2 categories:
make unclear, indistinct, or blurred
"Her remarks confused the debate"
"Their words obnubilate their intentions"
reduce a vowel to a neutral one, such as a schwa
"The phonetic process of obscuring often turns stressed vowels into unstressed ones like the schwa when they appear in weak positions."
make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or concealing
"a hidden message"
"a veiled threat"
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.
"The heavy fog obscured the distant lighthouse, making its beam difficult to see."
In plain English: To obscure something means to hide it so you can't see or find what is underneath.
"He tried to obscure his identity by wearing a hat and sunglasses."
not drawing attention
"an unnoticeable cigarette burn on the carpet"
"an obscure flaw"
Dark, faint or indistinct.
"The storm clouds obscured the moon until it was barely visible in the sky."
In plain English: When something is obscure, it means you cannot see it clearly because it is hidden from view.
"The author writes in such an obscure style that few readers can understand his books."
Usage: Use "obscure" as an adjective when describing something that is hard to see, understand, or identify due to being dimly lit or vague in meaning. Avoid confusing it with the verb form unless you are specifically referring to the act of hiding information rather than simply stating a quality.
The word obscure comes from the Latin obscūrus, which originally meant "dark" or "dusky." It entered English through Old French and Middle English to describe things that are not clearly visible or understood.