All 15 Uses of
obscure
in
Jane Eyre
- Even in that obscure position, Miss Scatcherd continued to make her an object of constant notice:
p. 64.1obscure = undistinguished or unimportant
- 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!
p. 65.9obscure = dark
- Having completed her task, she rose to draw down the blind, which she had hitherto kept up, by way, I suppose, of making the most of daylight, though dusk was now fast deepening into total obscurity.
p. 184.0obscurity = darkness
- According as the shifting obscurity and flickering gleam hovered here or glanced there, it was now the bearded physician, Luke, that bent his brow; now St. John's long hair that waved; and anon the devilish face of Judas, that grew out of the panel, and seemed gathering life and threatening a revelation of the arch-traitor — of Satan himself — in his subordinate's form.
p. 243.4
- Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless?
p. 292.7 *obscure = undistinguished or unimportant
- You — poor and obscure, and small and plain as you are — I entreat to accept me as a husband.
p. 294.5obscure = undistinguished
- During all my first sleep, I was following the windings of an unknown road; total obscurity environed me; rain pelted me; I was burdened with the charge of a little child: a very small creature, too young and feeble to walk, and which shivered in my cold arms, and wailed piteously in my ear.
p. 324.7obscurity = darkness
- The light that long ago had struck me into syncope, recalled in this vision, seemed glidingly to mount the wall, and tremblingly to pause in the centre of the obscured ceiling.
p. 367.7obscured = difficult to see
- but the guiding light shone nowhere. All was obscurity.
p. 381.4 *obscurity = darkness
- This scene was as silent as if all the figures had been shadows and the firelit apartment a picture: so hushed was it, I could hear the cinders fall from the grate, the clock tick in its obscure corner; and I even fancied I could distinguish the click-click of the woman's knitting-needles.
p. 382.5obscure = remote (far from the center of activity)
- I am obscure: Rivers is an old name; but of the three sole descendants of the race, two earn the dependant's crust among strangers, and the third considers himself an alien from his native country — not only for life, but in death.
p. 407.1obscure = undistinguished
- And since I am myself poor and obscure, I can offer you but a service of poverty and obscurity.
p. 407.4obscure = undistinguished or unimportant
- And since I am myself poor and obscure, I can offer you but a service of poverty and obscurity.
p. 407.4obscurity = lack of distinction or importance
- Refuse to be my wife, and you limit yourself for ever to a track of selfish ease and barren obscurity.
p. 471.9obscurity = lack of importance
- 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.
p. 520.4 *obscurity = something that blocks a view
Definitions:
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(1)
(obscure as in: it obscured my view) to block from view or make less visible or understandableAlthough 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."
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(2)
(obscure as in: the view or directions are obscure) not clearly seen, understood, or expressedAlthough 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: the famous and the obscure) not known to many people; or unimportant or undistinguishedMore 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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(4)
(obscure as in: was obscure, but now bright) dark or dingy; or inconspicuous (not very noticeable)This meaning of obscure is more commonly seen in classic literature than in modern writing.