obscure.

1. Little known or recognized beyond a limited audience.

2. Difficult to perceive, identify or understand.

3. To make something hard to perceive, identify or understand.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• obscure writer
• obscure source

On the page

An obscure writer supplied the passage that resolved the reference.

The source was obscure rather than inaccessible; a copy remained in the archive.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: Comparative more obscure; superlative most obscure where gradation is meaningful. 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: obscures.