I. adjective
1.
Synonyms: dark 1, caliginous, dim, dusk, dusky, gloomy, lightless, murky, tenebrous, unilluminated
Related Word: clouded, cloudy, fuliginous; shadowy, shady, umbrageous
Contrasted words: clear, lucid; bright, brilliant, luminous
2.
withdrawn from the main centers of human activity
was exiled to an obscure Siberian village
Synonyms: devious, lonesome, out-of-the-way, remote, removed, retired, secret
Related Word: distant, far, far-off; close, hidden, odd, secluded, sequestered, solitary; blind; inaccessible
Idioms: back of beyond, off the beaten track ( or path), in the boondocks ( or sticks)
Contrasted words: central; urban; populous
3.
not readily understood or grasped
an obscure textual reference
Synonyms: ambiguous, amphibological, double-edged, double-faced, dusky, equivocal, murky, nubilous, opaque, sibylline, tenebrous, uncertain, unclear, unexplicit, unintelligible, vague; compare cryptic , faint 2
Related Word: difficult, incomprehensible, inexplicable, puzzling, unfathomable; illegible; abstruse, Delphian, enigmatic, esoteric, inscrutable, mysterious, mystic, mystical; inconclusive, indecisive, indefinite
Contrasted words: definite, explicit, obvious; clear, express, unambiguous, unequivocal
Antonyms: lucid
4.
Synonyms: inconspicuous , unconspicuous, unemphatic, unnoticeable
Related Word: humble, lowly, minor, unimportant
5.
lacking the prominence, showiness, or worth by which attention might be attracted
an obscure Roman poet
Synonyms: nameless, uncelebrated, unfamed, unheard-of, unknown, unnoted, unrenowned
Related Word: inconspicuous; minor, undistinguished, unimportant
Contrasted words: celebrated, distinguished, named, notable, noted, noteworthy, renowned, well-known
Antonyms: famed, famous
6.
Synonyms: faint 2, blear, bleary, dim, ill-defined, indistinct, shadowy, unclear, undefined, vague
Antonyms: clear
II. verb
to make dark, dim, or indistinct
fog obscured our view
Synonyms: adumbrate, becloud, bedim, befog, cloud, darken, dim, dislimn, eclipse, fog, gloom, haze, mist, murk, obfuscate, obnubilate, overcast, overcloud, overshadow, shadow
Related Word: blear, blur, fuzz; blind, conceal, dim out, hide, screen, shade, shroud; bemask, camouflage, cloak, cover, disguise, mask, veil; belie, falsify, misrepresent
Contrasted words: brighten, light (up), lighten; clarify, enlighten; elucidate, exemplify, explain
Antonyms: illuminate, illumine