Sample Sentences forobscuregrouped by contextual meaning (editor-reviewed)
obscure as in: it obscured my view
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The stars are obscured by the clouds.
obscured = hidden or made less visible
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Our view was obscured by the smoke.obscured = partially blocked (made less visible)
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"The atmosphere is so thin here," Mrs Whatsit said as though in answer to her unasked question, "that it does not obscure your vision as it would at home." (source)obscure = make less clear
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Watanabe donned glasses to obscure his features and headed off, filled with trepidation. (source)obscure = hide
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But now the rapidly deepening snow obscured the narrow road and made the ride impossible. (source)obscured = hid
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There was a light mist blowing, partially obscuring the building that loomed directly above them. (source)obscuring = making less visible
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And no matter where you run into it, prejudice obscures the truth. (source)obscures = makes it hard to see; or overshadows
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The sky had grown light enough to obscure the stars and planets. (source)obscure = hide; or make less visible
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This is particularly distinct to one standing on the middle of the pond in winter, just after a light snow has fallen, appearing as a clear undulating white line, unobscured by weeds and twigs, and very obvious a quarter of a mile off in many places where in summer it is hardly distinguishable close at hand.† (source)standard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unobscured means not and reverses the meaning of obscured. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
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He informed me then, that for some time he had fancied the obscurity clouding one eye was becoming less dense; and that now he was sure of it. (source)obscurity = something that blocks a view
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The decay of Sense in men waking, is not the decay of the motion made in sense; but an obscuring of it, in such manner, as the light of the Sun obscureth the light of the Starres; which starrs do no less exercise their vertue by which they are visible, in the day, than in the night.† (source)standard suffix: Today, the suffix "-eth" is replaced by "-s", so that where they said "She obscureth" in older English, today we say "She obscures." Grammarians might refer to this as third-person, singular, present tense. Note that when "-eth" is placed at the end of a word that ends in "E", the "E" is dropped as an liveth and loveth.
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His face was obscured by a mop of dirty blond hair, (source)obscured = made less visible
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Something flittered there in front of his mind like a bat's wing, obscuring his idea. (source)obscuring = making less visible or understandable
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This forest obscures our view of the river, and any other distance.† (source)
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obscure as in: the view or directions are obscure
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For some obscure reason that goes back many years, they don't like each other.
obscure = not clearly understood
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She left instructions for us, but they are so obscure we can't agree on what they are.obscure = not clearly expressed or understood
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She sat obscurely in the far corner of the room.obscurely = inconspicuously (not drawing attention to herself)
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Could your note have been any more obscure? (source)obscure = not clearly expressed
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When I decided to go to Alaska that April, like Chris McCandless, I was a raw youth who mistook passion for insight and acted according to an obscure, gap-ridden logic. (source)obscure = little understood
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Clearly they were of the opinion that Jack had done the decent thing, had put himself in the right by his generous apology and Ralph, obscurely, in the wrong. (source)obscurely = in a manner that is not clearly seen, expressed or understood
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Unashamed of how he came by his fortune, he pretended that they, too, were unashamed of their beginnings and he seldom missed an opportunity to remark upon matters which, by common consent, everyone felt were better left in polite obscurity. (source)obscurity = hiding (the state of being hidden--not seen or discussed)
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They liked and they marvelled at everything, most of all at the unceasing chatter of their quaint old driver, in whose speech archaic Russian forms, Tartar idioms, and local oddities of diction were punctuated with obscurities of his own invention.† (source)
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Even Bilbo was given a seat at the high table, and no explanation of where he came in—no songs had alluded to him even in the obscurest way—was asked for in the general bustle. (source)obscurest = least understandable
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The newcomers were being shown the striking or obscurer tokens of the plague, relics of its passage.† (source)
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There were just drawings, coded instructions, and obscure texts. "Why do they make things so complicated?" he asked the Englishman one night. (source)obscure = difficult to understand
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Blinking away the brightness of the street outside, my eyes picked him out obscurely in the anteroom, talking to another man. (source)obscurely = in a manner that was not clear
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Oh! but dear Miss Woodhouse, she is now in such retirement, such obscurity, so thrown away. (source)obscurity = difficulty in understanding
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He checked her chemistry work and cleared up obscurities in the Restoration plays.† (source)
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obscure as in: the famous and the obscure
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The obscure battle is hardly mentioned in history books.
obscure = not known to many people
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An Internet search proved she had plagiarized from an obscure poem written in 1920.
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She was just another obscure student until she created the YouTube video that went viral.obscure = not important or not noticeably different than others
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Mr. Ewell was a veteran of an obscure war; (source)obscure = not known to many people
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She lives on some obscure street in West Amsterdam, and none of us know where it is. (source)obscure = not known to many people
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As it was, he impressed himself professionally on Europe to an extent that made his comparative personal obscurity, and the failure of Oxford to do justice to his eminence, a puzzle to foreign specialists in his subject. (source)obscurity = the condition of not standing out or being well known by many people
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Then, compelled to quit Rome, he went and got himself obscurely killed in a night skirmish, scarcely noticed in history. (source)obscurely = in an unknown or undistinguished manner
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Ethan, consumed with the longing for a last moment alone with Mattie, hung about impatiently while Denis made an ineffectual search in the obscurer corners of the store. (source)obscurer = less familiar (less used and less known)
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And Procompsognathus is an obscure animal. (source)obscure = not known to many people
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The family began to get accustomed to their obscurity. (source)obscurity = the condition of being undistinguished
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It was when curiosity about Gatsby was at its highest that the lights in his house failed to go on one Saturday night — and, as obscurely as it had begun, his career as Trimalchio was over. (source)obscurely = in an unknown or undistinguished manner
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Turning down an obscure street and entering an obscurer lane, he went up to a smith's shop. (source)obscurer = less known, visible, or understandable
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We were constantly trying to out-geek each other with our knowledge of obscure gunter trivia. (source)obscure = not known to many people
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But, with a dreadful feeling, she remembered how it had been her who'd insisted that he publish the book. He'd argued with her, saying it was too personal, a private matter, but she'd pushed and pushed, softening his resistance until he finally broke down and agreed. Because wasn't that what wives of artists were meant to do? Husband their husbands' work into the world, which, without them, would be lost to obscurity? (source)obscurity = a condition of not being known by many people
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obscure as in: was obscure, but now bright
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The once shiny silver was now tarnished and obscure.
obscure = dark or dingy
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The jungle became obscure as the sun set.
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It had then filled me with a sublime ecstasy that gave wings to the soul and allowed it to soar from the obscure world to light and joy. (source)obscure = dark
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Probably, if I had lately left a good home and kind parents, this would have been the hour when I should most keenly have regretted the separation; that wind would then have saddened my heart; this obscure chaos would have disturbed my peace! (source)
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The savage peered into the obscurity beneath the thicket. (source)obscurity = something dark and very difficult to identify or comprehend
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At the sight of these men the Englishman started and advanced a step; then restrained himself, and retired into the farthest and most obscure corner of the apartment. (source)obscure = dark, dingy, or inconspicuous
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Let us as much as possible, train out creepers, and branches of trees, upon bridges, pulling down and nailing the branches, aiming to obtain shade and reflection of foliage and broken obscuration of water.† (source)standard suffix: The suffix "-tion", converts a verb into a noun that denotes the action or result of the verb. Typically, there is a slight change in the ending of the root verb, as in action, education, and observation.
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The Daily Blare was a paper that made the most of any opportunity for sensationalism. Robberies and murders did not lurk obscurely in its back pages. Instead they hit you in the eye in large type on the front page. (source)obscurely = not known to many people
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There was a great fire, and that was all the light in the huge apartment, whose floor had grown a uniform grey; and the once brilliant pewter-dishes, which used to attract my gaze when I was a girl, partook of a similar obscurity, created by tarnish and dust. (source)obscurity = the quality of being dark, dingy, or inconspicuous
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The court was all astir and a-buzz, when the black sheep—whom many fell away from in dread—pressed him into an obscure corner among the crowd. (source)obscure = dark, dingy, or inconspicuous
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The outlines of myths and tales are subject to damage and obscuration.† (source)
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Writings all tending to the great opinion That Rome holds of his name; wherein obscurely Caesar's ambition shall be glanced at: (source)obscurely = inconspicuously (not obviously)
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In another moment the pale stars alone were visible. All else was rayless obscurity. The sky was absolutely black. (source)obscurity = darkness
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With a grateful smile, Eragon dashed to Tronjheim, ate in an obscure corner of a kitchen, then followed Nasuada's instructions until he reached a small gray door guarded by a man and a dwarf. (source)obscure = inconspicuous
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