All 8 Uses of
obscure
in
Oliver Twist
- There was not so great a necessity for hurrying as Mr. Sowerberry had anticipated, however; for when they reached the obscure corner of the churchyard in which the nettles grew, and where the parish graves were made, the clergyman had not arrived; and the clerk, who was sitting by the vestry-room fire, seemed to think it by no means improbable that it might be an hour or so, before he came.
Chpt 5 (definition 1)obscure = not known to many people; or undistinguished
- In a frying-pan, which was on the fire, and which was secured to the mantelshelf by a string, some sausages were cooking; and standing over them, with a toasting-fork in his hand, was a very old shrivelled Jew, whose villainous-looking and repulsive face was obscured by a quantity of matted red hair.
Chpt 8 (definition 2)obscured = hid or made less visible or understandable
- In the obscure parlour of a low public-house, in the filthiest part of Little Saffron Hill; a dark and gloomy den, where a flaring gas-light burnt all day in the winter-time; and where no ray of sun ever shone in the summer: there sat, brooding over a little pewter measure and a small glass, strongly impregnated with the smell of liquor, a man in a velveteen coat, drab shorts, half-boots and…
Chpt 15 (definition 1)obscure = not known to many people; or undistinguished
- and pulling the collar up over his ears so as completely to obscure the lower part of his face:
Chpt 19 (definition 2) *obscure = hide (make less visible)
- If I had been less—less fortunate, the world would call it—if some obscure and peaceful life had been my destiny—if I had been poor, sick, helpless—would you have turned from me then?
Chpt 35 (definition 1)obscure = not known to many people; or undistinguished
- 'At nine in the evening,' said the stranger, producing a scrap of paper, and writing down upon it, an obscure address by the water-side, in characters that betrayed his agitation; 'at nine in the evening, bring her to me there.'
Chpt 37 (definition 1)
- Just pausing to observe which appeared the most crowded streets, and consequently the most to be avoided, he crossed into Saint John's Road, and was soon deep in the obscurity of the intricate and dirty ways, which, lying between Gray's Inn Lane and Smithfield, render that part of the town one of the lowest and worst that improvement has left in the midst of London.
Chpt 42 (definition 1) *obscurity = the condition of being unknown to most people and undistinguished
- The murderer swung lifeless against the wall; and the boy, thrusting aside the dangling body which obscured his view, called to the people to come and take him out, for God's sake.
Chpt 50 (definition 2)obscured = hid or made less visible or understandable
Definitions:
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(1) (obscure as in: knows the famous and the obscure) not known to many people; or unimportant or undistinguishededitor's notes: More rarely, this meaning of obscure can be used for:
- seemingly unimportant -- as in "I want her on the team. She always seems to ask obscure questions that reveal problems in a different light."
- humble (typically only found in classic literature) -- as in "Nobody at the table would have guessed of her obscure family background."
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(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."