obscurity

UK/əbˈskjʊəɹɪti/US/əbˈskjʊɹɪti/

nounC1Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #10,424 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: obscurities

Obscurity is being unknown, or being hard to understand. Live in obscurity, rise from obscurity, the obscurity of the text.

The two senses run together in the phrase rescued from obscurity, said of a forgotten writer. Applied to writing it is a criticism: obscurity is when the reader cannot follow, and it is not the same thing as difficulty.

Definitions of obscurity

1nounobscurityBeing unknown, or being hard to understand.C1
“After one hit song, the singer faded back into obscurity.”

obscurity is a state.

Where it comes from

Latin obscuritas comes from obscurus, dark or covered over.

Proto-Indo-European
*(s)ḱeh₃-
Latin
obscūritās
Middle French
obscurité
Middle English
obscurite
English, today
obscurity

From Middle English obscurite, obscuryte, from Middle French obscurité and its etymon Latin obscūritās. by surface analysis, obscure + -ity.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Word Building

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obscurity in the wild

In security engineering, security through obscurity is the practice of concealing the details or mechanisms of a system to enhance its security.
Security through obscurity
Scholars have commented on the obscurity of the figure's name and have proposed various theories to explain the role and origin of the giantess.
Bestla
During his time, the Molossian tribe emerged from political obscurity and began to play an important role in the political scene of Epirus.
Tharrhypas
During the 1920s, the place fell into obscurity.
Kokanee Creek Provincial Park
In modern times, they have largely fallen into obscurity.
Teen Brigade

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

obscure

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