MEANING
To make something unclear or hard to understand.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- obfuscate an issue
- obfuscate a distinction
On the page
The explanation obfuscated the issue by changing its terms halfway through.
The added qualifications obfuscated a distinction that the diagram showed clearly.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- obfuscate
- Past tense
- obfuscated
- Past participle
- obfuscated
- Present participle
- obfuscating
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- obfuscate
- Present continuous
- am/is/are obfuscating
- Present perfect
- have/has obfuscated
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been obfuscating
- Past
- obfuscated
- Past continuous
- was/were obfuscating
- Past perfect
- had obfuscated
- Past perfect continuous
- had been obfuscating
- Future
- will obfuscate
- Future continuous
- will be obfuscating
- Future perfect
- will have obfuscated
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been obfuscating
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: obfuscate; obfuscates; obfuscated; obfuscated; obfuscating Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: clarity and ornament, narrative perspective, style analysis. Disciplines: literary writing, narrative analysis, advanced English. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: obfuscates.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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