All 3 Uses of
obscure
in
Brave New World
- He was obscurely terrified lest she should cease to be something he could feel himself unworthy of.
p. 169..8 (definition 1)obscurely = vague (little understood)
- But Bernard would not be cheered; without answering, without even looking at Helmholtz, he went and sat down on the most uncomfortable chair in the room, carefully chosen in the obscure hope of somehow deprecating the wrath of the higher powers.
p. 217..6 (definition 1) *
- ...as the passions grow calm, as the fancy and sensibilities are less excited and less excitable, our reason becomes less troubled in its working, less obscured by the images, desires and distractions, in which it used to be absorbed;
p. 233..2 (definition 2) *obscured = made less visible or understandable
Definitions:
-
(1) (obscure as in: the view or directions are obscure) not clearly seen, understood, or expressededitor's notes: Although this meaning of obscure typically refers to seeing or understanding, it can refer to difficulty with any type of detection as when something is hard to hear. It can also more specifically mean vague, or mysterious, or unknown by anyone. Much more rarely, it can mean secretive.
-
(2) (obscure as in: it obscured my view) to block from view or make less visible or understandableeditor's notes: Although this meaning of obscure typically refers to seeing or understanding, it can also refer to situation where something makes something else harder to detect or as when a noise makes another noise difficult to hear. Similarly it can reference something overshadowing something else, as in "Her memory of her dog's death was obscured by her brother's death the next day."