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obscure
" A century ago, petroleum - what we call oil - was just an obscure commodity; today it is almost as vital to human existence as water."
James Buchan

Meaning of "obscure" in the English dictionary

DICTIONARY

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD OBSCURE

Via Old French from Latin obscūrus dark.
Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF OBSCURE

əbˈskjʊə


GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF OBSCURE

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Obscure is a verb and can also act as a noun and an adjective.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

The adjective is the word that accompanies the noun to determine or qualify it.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb obscure in English.

WHAT DOES OBSCURE MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Obscure

Obscure may refer to: ▪ ObsCure, a survival horror video game released in 2004 ▪ "Obscure", by Japanese rock band Dir en grey, from Vulgar ▪ Obscure Records, started by Brian Eno in 1975 to release works by lesser-known composers...

Definition of obscure in the English dictionary

The first definition of obscure in the dictionary is unclear or abstruse. Other definition of obscure is indistinct, vague, or indefinite. Obscure is also inconspicuous or unimportant.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO OBSCURE

PRESENT

Present
I obscure
you obscure
he/she/it obscures
we obscure
you obscure
they obscure
Present continuous
I am obscuring
you are obscuring
he/she/it is obscuring
we are obscuring
you are obscuring
they are obscuring
Present perfect
I have obscured
you have obscured
he/she/it has obscured
we have obscured
you have obscured
they have obscured
Present perfect continuous
I have been obscuring
you have been obscuring
he/she/it has been obscuring
we have been obscuring
you have been obscuring
they have been obscuring
Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past
I obscured
you obscured
he/she/it obscured
we obscured
you obscured
they obscured
Past continuous
I was obscuring
you were obscuring
he/she/it was obscuring
we were obscuring
you were obscuring
they were obscuring
Past perfect
I had obscured
you had obscured
he/she/it had obscured
we had obscured
you had obscured
they had obscured
Past perfect continuous
I had been obscuring
you had been obscuring
he/she/it had been obscuring
we had been obscuring
you had been obscuring
they had been obscuring
Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future
I will obscure
you will obscure
he/she/it will obscure
we will obscure
you will obscure
they will obscure
Future continuous
I will be obscuring
you will be obscuring
he/she/it will be obscuring
we will be obscuring
you will be obscuring
they will be obscuring
Future perfect
I will have obscured
you will have obscured
he/she/it will have obscured
we will have obscured
you will have obscured
they will have obscured
Future perfect continuous
I will have been obscuring
you will have been obscuring
he/she/it will have been obscuring
we will have been obscuring
you will have been obscuring
they will have been obscuring
The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional
I would obscure
you would obscure
he/she/it would obscure
we would obscure
you would obscure
they would obscure
Conditional continuous
I would be obscuring
you would be obscuring
he/she/it would be obscuring
we would be obscuring
you would be obscuring
they would be obscuring
Conditional perfect
I would have obscure
you would have obscure
he/she/it would have obscure
we would have obscure
you would have obscure
they would have obscure
Conditional perfect continuous
I would have been obscuring
you would have been obscuring
he/she/it would have been obscuring
we would have been obscuring
you would have been obscuring
they would have been obscuring
Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative
you obscure
we let´s obscure
you obscure
The imperative is used to form commands or requests.
NONFINITE VERB FORMS
Infinitive
to obscure
Past participle
obscured
Present Participle
obscuring
Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH OBSCURE

bio-secure · clair-obscure · cure · epicure · faithcure · insecure · liqueur · manicure · overcure · pedicure · precure · procure · recure · rescuer · resecure · secure · sinecure · skewer · vacua

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE OBSCURE

obscene · Obscene Publications Act · Obscene Publications Squad · obscenely · obsceneness · obscenities · obscenity · obscurant · obscurantic · obscurantism · obscurantist · obscuration · obscurely · obscurement · obscureness · obscurities · obscurity · obscurum per obscurius · obsecrate · obsecration

WORDS THAT END LIKE OBSCURE

adventure · agriculture · architecture · be sure · capture · culture · ensure · exposure · failure · feature · figure · fire-cure · flue-cure · for good measure · miracle cure · nature cure · non-secure · rest-cure · to be sure · water cure

Synonyms and antonyms of obscure in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

SYNONYMS OF «OBSCURE»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «obscure» and belong to the same grammatical category.

Translation of «obscure» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR

TRANSLATION OF OBSCURE

Find out the translation of obscure to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of obscure from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «obscure» in English.
zh

Translator English - Chinese

鲜为人知的
1,325 millions of speakers
es

Translator English - Spanish

oscuro
570 millions of speakers
en

English

obscure
510 millions of speakers
hi

Translator English - Hindi

अस्पष्ट
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

غامضة
280 millions of speakers
ru

Translator English - Russian

неясным
278 millions of speakers
pt

Translator English - Portuguese

obscuro
270 millions of speakers
bn

Translator English - Bengali

অস্পষ্ট
260 millions of speakers
fr

Translator English - French

obscur
220 millions of speakers
ms

Translator English - Malay

Kabur
190 millions of speakers
de

Translator English - German

unbekannt
180 millions of speakers
ja

Translator English - Japanese

よく知られていない
130 millions of speakers
ko

Translator English - Korean

잘 알려지지 않은
85 millions of speakers
jv

Translator English - Javanese

Ora jelas
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

che khuất
80 millions of speakers
ta

Translator English - Tamil

தெளிவற்ற
75 millions of speakers
mr

Translator English - Marathi

अस्पष्ट
75 millions of speakers
tr

Translator English - Turkish

belirsiz
70 millions of speakers
it

Translator English - Italian

oscuro
65 millions of speakers
pl

Translator English - Polish

niejasny
50 millions of speakers
uk

Translator English - Ukrainian

неясним
40 millions of speakers
ro

Translator English - Romanian

obscur
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

ασαφής
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

duister
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

oklar
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

obskure
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of obscure

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «OBSCURE»

Principal search tendencies and common uses of obscure
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «obscure».

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about obscure

EXAMPLES

10 QUOTES WITH «OBSCURE»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word obscure.
1
Casey Abrams
My favorite type of music to sing to would be rock and roll, Tenacious D, Led Zeppelin, some Queen - I love all of them. I love singing to them because they're all just great voices. I love listening to very obscure jazz.
2
Aziz Ansari
When I tour, it's like, well, like a food tour as much as a comedy tour. I try to eat at all the weird places, the obscure barbecue joints, burger places. There are a few spots in L.A. that I'm obsessed with - one of them is the Taco Zone taco truck on Alvarado. There are secret off-menu items that are amazing.
3
Hosea Ballou
Never be so brief as to become obscure.
4
Michael Bennet
I'm not a career politician, so the ways of Washington may be a little obscure to me.
5
Omar Bongo
The world is now aware that the most unavoidable and most dangerous weapon that exists is the blind decisiveness of a man ready to sacrifice his life for an obscure cause.
6
Constantin Brancusi
Don't look for obscure formulas or mystery in my work. It is pure joy that I offer you. Look at my sculptures until you see them. Those closest to God have seen them.
7
James Buchan
A century ago, petroleum - what we call oil - was just an obscure commodity; today it is almost as vital to human existence as water.
8
Benjamin N. Cardozo
There comes not seldom a crisis in the life of men, of nations, and of worlds, when the old forms seem ready to decay, and the old rules of action have lost their binding force. The evils of existing systems obscure the blessings that attend them, and, where reform is needed, the cry is raised for subversion.
9
Thomas R. Cech
If you want to study one of these strange organisms, you had better have a good justification. It's not good to study gene organisation in some obscure insect that no one's ever heard about.
10
Tom Chatfield
From exam grading to health education to professional training to democratic participation, paths towards self-realization and success in the world are often daunting and obscure: journeys only the privileged feel confident setting off along.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «OBSCURE»

Discover the use of obscure in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to obscure and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Destiny Obscure: Autobiographies of Childhood, Education and ...
In this companion volume to Useful Toil, John Burnett has drawn extensively on over eight hundred previously unpublished manuscripts.
Proffessor John Burnett, John Burnett, 2013
2
Jude the Obscure
in the country by an obscure street running parallel to the main one, and round a corner to the side door of the establishment to which she was attached. Her purchases were taken straight up to her own chamber, and she at once attempted to ...
Thomas Hardy, 2013
3
Obscure Destinies
The jacket of the first edition of Obscure Destinies announced ?Three New Stories of the West,? heralding Willa Cather?s return to what many thought of as ?her? territory?the Great Plains. These three stories, ?Neighbour Rosicky,? ?Old Mrs.
Willa Cather, Kari Ronning, Frederick M. Link, 1998
4
That Obscure Subject of Desire: Freud's Female Homosexual ...
First Published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Ronnie Lesser, Erica Schoenberg, 2013
5
Obscure No More: Life-Shaping Lessons from the Often Overlooked
"Includes leader's guide"--P. [4] of cover.
LeAnne Blackmore, 2010
6
Dark Symbols, Obscure Signs: God, Self, and Community in the ...
This probing work examines how African-American slaves, through their appropriation of Christianity, found a resource that affirmed their sense of self-worth and identity, and a spirit of community that offered psychological and spiritual ...
Riggins Renal Earl, 1993
7
Memoirs of an Obscure Professor
That essay became the foundation for this collection of autobiographical selections reflecting the interests and pursuits of a man who gained national recognition, both inside the academic community and beyond, but still values his ...
Paul F. Boller, 2013
8
Nomo-lexikon: A Law-dictionary : Interpreting Such Difficult ...
Blount, Thomas [1618-1679]. Nomo Lexikon: A Law-Dictionary. Interpreting Such Difficult and Obscure Words and Terms, as are Found Either in Our Common or Statute, Ancient or Modern, Laws.
Thomas Blount, 1670
9
Obscure Invitations: The Persistence of the Author in ...
The book significantly revises received understandings of central texts by Faulkner, Stein, and Nabokov.
Benjamin Widiss, 2011
10
Obscure language, unclear literature: theory and practice ...
"This book vigorously confronts an intractable problem of literary study: the early attempts to articulate what is conceived as being obscure, unsayable, difficult: Unwilling to accept the ubiquitous explanation of obscurity as a ...
Päivi Mehtonen, 2003

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «OBSCURE»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term obscure is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Martin O'Malley: Obscure but not implausible
SteveChapman13RT @NorthwesternLaw: "Our laws have been written intentionally to make it hard to hold police accountable." Prof Locke ... «Chicago Tribune, Jul 15»
2
Obscure Particle Could Keep Iran Honest on Its Nuclear Deal
Last week, Iran made a deal with five other world powers about the future of its nuclear programs. But as President Obama made clear in his ... «Wired, Jul 15»
3
Actor Richard Dreyfuss Wants to Rewrite 'Obscure' Second …
Actor Richard Dreyfuss Wants to Rewrite 'Obscure' Second Amendment. By Randy Hall | July 23, 2015 | 5:18 PM EDT. Share it Tweet it. 0. shares. During an ... «NewsBusters, Jul 15»
4
10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW: Today's guide to the obscure
This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter zooms into "spider" features -- or channels carved in the surface in radial patterns -- in ... «The Bakersfield Californian, Jul 15»
5
The Obscure Chinese Businessman Accused of Selling Ballistic …
Back in the 1980s, men like Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan and Canadian artillery expert Gerald Bull set the benchmark for how much ... «VICE, Jul 15»
6
Obscure court rule could allow for Kane's removal, report: Thursday …
Attorney General Kathleen Kane, who's faced calls for both her impeachment and resignation, for allegedly leaking secret grand jury material, ... «PennLive.com, Jul 15»
7
'Wasted in Sacramento': California's crop of committees costs millions
But America Tonight has discovered one area that hasn't felt much of a squeeze: hundreds of obscure committees, commissions and councils ... «Al Jazeera America, Jul 15»
8
Follow Business Insider:
Congress is about to decide the fate of an obscure federal agency that has become improbably tangled in presidential politics and Republican ... «Business Insider, Jul 15»
9
'I like talking about obscure things'
His act could also fall into that 'surreal' category with its mix of facts – he soaks up obscure knowledge like a sponge – and humorous, ... «Aberdeen Press and Journal, Jul 15»
10
Smart Money's Big Bet On An Obscure Apple Supplier
With tens of thousands of potential investment choices, one smart strategy is to follow the smart money -- the kind managed by the sort people ... «Nasdaq, Jul 15»
REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Obscure [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/obscure>. May 2024 ».
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