All 13 Uses of
obscure
in
The Age of Innocence
- At its base was a firm foundation of what Mrs. Archer called "plain people"; an honourable but obscure majority of respectable families who (as in the case of the Spicers or the Leffertses or the Jacksons) had been raised above their level by marriage with one of the ruling clans.
Chpt 6 (definition 1)obscure = not known to many people; or undistinguished
- "There are plenty of people to tell you what to do," Archer rejoined, obscurely envious of them.
Chpt 9 (definition 2)obscurely = in a manner that is not clearly seen, expressed or understood
- and for some obscure reason he disliked the prospect.
Chpt 11 (definition 2)obscure = not clearly seen, understood, or expressed
- He felt himself drawn to her by obscure feelings of jealousy and pity, as if her dumbly-confessed error had put her at his mercy, humbling yet endearing her.
Chpt 13 (definition 2)
- May herself could not understand his obscure reluctance to fall in with so reasonable and pleasant a way of spending the summer.
Chpt 21 (definition 2)
- She met the words with a long silence, during which the carriage rolled down an obscure side-street and then turned into the searching illumination of Fifth Avenue.
Chpt 29 (definition 1)obscure = not known to many people; or undistinguished
- As it drove off she leaned forward, and he thought she waved her hand in the obscurity.
Chpt 31 (definition 3) *obscurity = darkness
- He became aware of the same obscure effort in her, the same reaching out toward something beyond the usual range of her vision.
Chpt 31 (definition 2)obscure = not clearly seen, understood, or expressed
- For a couple of hours Archer had examined the terms of the deed with his senior, all the while obscurely feeling that if he had been consulted it was for some reason other than the obvious one of his cousinship; and that the close of the conference would reveal it.
Chpt 33 (definition 2) *obscurely = in a manner not clearly understood
- If society chose to open its doors to vulgar women the harm was not great, though the gain was doubtful; but once it got in the way of tolerating men of obscure origin and tainted wealth the end was total disintegration—and at no distant date.
Chpt 33 (definition 1)obscure = not known to many people; or undistinguished
- …as he looked back, was not sure that men like himself WERE what his country needed, at least in the active service to which Theodore Roosevelt had pointed; in fact, there was reason to think it did not, for after a year in the State Assembly he had not been re-elected, and had dropped back thankfully into obscure if useful municipal work, and from that again to the writing of occasional articles in one of the reforming weeklies that were trying to shake the country out of its apathy.
Chpt 34 (definition 1)
- Only the older people remembered so obscure an incident in the business life of New York as Beaufort's failure, or the fact that after his wife's death he had been quietly married to the notorious Fanny Ring, and had left the country with his new wife, and a little girl who inherited her beauty.
Chpt 34 (definition 1) *obscure = not known to many people
- Archer knew that Madame Olenska lived in a square near one of the avenues radiating from the Invalides; and he had pictured the quarter as quiet and almost obscure, forgetting the central splendour that lit it up.
Chpt 34 (definition 3)obscure = dark, dingy, or inconspicuous
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: 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.
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(3) (obscure as in: was obscure, but now bright) dark or dingy; or inconspicuous (not very noticeable)editor's notes: This meaning of obscure is more commonly seen in classic literature than in modern writing.