obscure meaning and examples

2025-09-04

Meaning

Obscure has two main uses:

  1. Adjective – not well known, difficult to understand, hidden. Example: an obscure author, an obscure rule.
  2. Verb – to make something unclear, difficult to see, or hide. Example: Clouds obscured the mountain.

Grammar and Usage

  • Adjective: Describes a noun. Structure: "obscure + noun" e.g., obscure idea, obscure village.
  • Verb (transitive): Used with an object. Structure: "obscure + object" e.g., Thick fog obscured the road.

Common Phrases

  • Obscure origins (unknown beginnings)
  • Obscure reference (difficult to understand allusion)
  • Obscure meaning (unclear significance)
  • Obscure figure (person not well known)

Collocations

  • Obscure + facts
  • Obscure + details
  • Obscure + writer
  • Obscure + reason
  • Obscure truth
  • Clouds + obscure + view

Examples

  1. The instructions were so obscure that no one could follow them.
  2. The poet remained obscure during his lifetime but became famous later.
  3. His real motives are obscure to most people.
  4. Tall buildings obscured the view of the sunset.
  5. The origins of the festival are obscure.
  6. She wore dark glasses to obscure her identity.
  7. The novel is filled with obscure references to ancient myths.
  8. His handwriting is so obscure that I can hardly read it.
  • Adjective: unknown, hidden, mysterious, ambiguous, vague
  • Verb: conceal, hide, blur, cover, mask