All 10 Uses

obscure
in
Ready Player One
(Edited)

Anorak's Invitation was crammed with obscure '80s pop culture references, nearly all of which were lost on me the first time I viewed it.
p. 2.5 *

obscure = not known to many people
We were constantly trying to out-geek each other with our knowledge of obscure gunter trivia.
p. 39.2
Gunters loved to play the game of one-upmanship and were constantly trying to prove they had acquired more obscure knowledge than everyone else.
p. 43.8
He was known to fire longtime employees for not recognizing an obscure line of movie dialogue he quoted, or if he discovered they weren't familiar with one of his favorite cartoons, comic books, or videogames.
p. 55.7

obscure = not known to many people; or undistinguished
(Several exhaustive psychological studies were done on Halliday following his death, and his obsessive adherence to routine and preoccupation with a few obscure areas of interest led many psychologists to conclude that Halliday had suffered from Asperger's syndrome, or from some other form of high-functioning autism.)
p. 55.9

obscure = not known to many people
"Daggorath" (with two "g"s) could refer only to one thing: an incredibly obscure computer game called Dungeons of Daggorath released in 1982.
p. 85.7
She'd caught my obscure Highlander quote and thrown another right back at me.
p. 88.5

obscure = not known to many people; or undistinguished
Among these was my own channel: Parzival-TV—Broadcasting obscure eclectic crap, 24-7-365.
p. 201.7
His face was obscured by a mop of dirty blond hair,
p. 274.8 *

obscured = made less visible
Then I realized it was the female version of Tranzor Z, an obscure character from the original Mazinger Z anime series known as Minerva X.
p. 330.1

obscure = not known to many people

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Best Example Sentences
From Other Sources
Grouped by 4 Meanings

Definitions:

(1) (obscure as in: it obscured my view)
to block from view or make less visible or understandable

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."
(2) (obscure as in: the view or directions are obscure)
not clearly seen, understood, or expressed

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.
(3) (obscure as in: the famous and the obscure)
not known to many people; or unimportant or undistinguished
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."
(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.
(5) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)

obscure in Ready Player One (Edited)

obscure
in
Ready Player One
(Edited)