<adj.all> an obscure turn of phrase an impulse to go off and fight certain obscure battles of his own spirit their descriptions of human behavior become vague, dull, and unclear vague...forms of speech...have so long passed for mysteries of science
marked by difficulty of style or expression
<adj.all> much that was dark is now quite clear to me those who do not appreciate Kafka's work say his style is obscure
difficult to find
<adj.all> hidden valleys a hidden cave an obscure retreat
not famous or acclaimed
<adj.all> an obscure family unsung heroes of the war
not drawing attention
<adj.all> an unnoticeable cigarette burn on the carpet an obscure flaw
remote and separate physically or socially
<adj.all> existed over the centuries as a world apart preserved because they inhabited a place apart tiny isolated villages remote from centers of civilization an obscure village
Obscure \Ob*scure"\ ([o^]b*sk[=u]r"), v. i. To conceal one's self; to hide; to keep dark. [Obs.]
How! There's bad news. I must obscure, and hear it. --Beau. & Fl.
Obscure \Ob*scure"\, n. Obscurity. [Obs.] --Milton.
Obscure \Ob*scure"\ ([o^]b*sk[=u]r"), a. [Compar. {Obscurer} ([o^]b*sk[=u]r"[~e]r); superl. {Obscurest}.] [L. obscurus, orig., covered; ob- (see {Ob-}) + a root probably meaning, to cover; cf. L. scutum shield, Skr. sku to cover: cf. F. obscur. Cf. {Sky}.] 1. Covered over, shaded, or darkened; destitute of light; imperfectly illuminated; dusky; dim.
His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness. --Prov. xx. 20.
2. Of or pertaining to darkness or night; inconspicuous to the sight; indistinctly seen; hidden; retired; remote from observation; unnoticed.
The obscure bird Clamored the livelong night. --Shak.
The obscure corners of the earth. --Sir J. Davies.
3. Not noticeable; humble; mean. ``O base and obscure vulgar.'' --Shak. ``An obscure person.'' --Atterbury.
4. Not easily understood; not clear or legible; abstruse or incomprehensible; as, an obscure passage or inscription.
5. Not clear, full, or distinct; clouded; imperfect; as, an obscure view of remote objects.
{Obscure rays} (Opt.), those rays which are not luminous or visible, and which in the spectrum are beyond the limits of the visible portion.
Obscure \Ob*scure"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Obscured} ([o^]b*sk[=u]rd"); p. pr. & vb. n. {Obscuring}.] [L. obscurare, fr. obscurus: cf. OF. obscurer. See {Obscure}, a.] To render obscure; to darken; to make dim; to keep in the dark; to hide; to make less visible, intelligible, legible, glorious, beautiful, or illustrious.
They are all couched in a pit hard by Herne's oak, with obscured lights. --Shak.
Why, 't is an office of discovery, love, And I should be obscured. --Shak.
There is scarce any duty which has been so obscured by the writings of learned men as this. --Wake.
And seest not sin obscures thy godlike frame? --Dryden.
It is expected to be signed formally at the Washington peace talks, which enter their eleventh round this week. Many of the most difficult and sensitive details remain obscure.
Streets throughout the region known as the Lowcountry are littered with piles of leaves, broken limbs and logs from felled trees _ some piled so high they obscure the view of the houses beyond.
Why? "The financial media tell them to." "The result is a jittery market that hangs on the arithmetic of obscure bureaucrats." _The crash of October 1987 so shattered confidence that most players don't know what to believe.
Exceptional charges of Pounds 214m connected with the sale of its Silo chain in the US will obscure a small fall in underlying profits at Dixons, the UK's largest electrical retailer, on Wednesday.
The others are running on even more obscure lines, ranging from the Independent Progressive to the Workers World parties.
For their part, islanders fear that the British government subordinates their interests to its own political aims. Conspiracy theorists suspect that obscure geopolitical or vested interests were the 'real' reason behind the land sale.
Imagine the hullabaloo had he married her. Yet, newspapers across Germany produced just one picture of the wedding on an obscure page.
Thinkers like Freud and Marx are given their say along with the more obscure pundits who have contributed to the debate.
He hopes to merge the exchange's robust financial division with its obscure but politically powerful agricultural sector as early as October. 'It's time to harmonise the agenda of the exchange,' he says.
"So when there is a undoubted conflict within the party, government and top military leadership, they are especially careful to keep it obscure from the rest of the world," said the diplomatic source.
I'm convinced we're going to win." Bush said he thought the convention had helped him get his message to the American people and "beyond the filters" that obscure his points.
After the talks failed, Burlington Northern tried to dodge the restrictions of the Railway Labor Act, which require negotiations on work rule changes, by reactivating the obscure Winona Bridge subsidiary.
Today, if stale ideology would cease to obscure reality, simultaneous reductions in the unemployment rate and in the price level could receive reinforcement from sustained economic growth.
But the impact of inclusion in a museum show can also be extremely significant on the works of obscure artists and contemporary artists, exactly the works fledgling collectors can afford.
His flagship sponsorships are events that cover the nation, ideally reaching into the more obscure and neglected corners, and involving consumers who have never before tried the arts.
But he said that such considerations "may ultimately be counterproductive if they are allowed to obscure or cause long delays in the achievement of price stability."
The proliferation of independents means that even the most obscure new movies usually open on at least three screens.
A highly paid army of lobbyists and lawyers is fighting one of the last battles of the Cold War, an intense struggle to influence U.S. policy in the obscure African country of Angola.
A proposed rule change in an obscure aspect of U.S. securities law signals that federal regulators are ready to go global.
They said revised dosage information was delayed and then buried in obscure materials.
And both sides are bracing for a battle over issues that may seem obscure to the uninitiated.
I think Montserrat Caballe at the premiere did keep my attention (and helped obscure the set).
First proposed last October, Rule 144a _ like the controversial Salman Rushdie novel _ remained obscure to all but devotees until it was publicly attacked and turned into a hot news story. "We got some very inflammatory headlines," she said.
Although Hazelwood had problems with alcohol, his life was otherwise as obscure as those of his other high school classmates.
THE roughly 500 trade barriers which impede the movement of goods and services between Canada's 10 provinces range from the familiar to the obscure.
Troilus and Cressida is dismissed as obscure but, unlike Two Noble Kinsmen, not bad.
He said 14 Sandinista party activists had been killed by Contra rebels since December and repeated accusations that Mrs. Chamorro's supporters hoped to obscure a Sandinista victory with violence.
But in March 1894, a note appeared in an obscure Philadelphia literary journal saying a Browning rarity had turned up: an 1847 edition of the sonnets.
The desire to overcome the trauma of war, as exemplified by the McCain resolution, should not obscure Indochina's political realities nor cause the administration to jettison abruptly a strategy pursued jointly with ASEAN since 1979.
Nunn has also triumphed with more obscure Shakespeare works.