Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. Deficiency or absence of light; darkness.
- n. The quality or condition of being unknown: "Even utter obscurity need not be an obstacle to [political] success” ( New Republic).
- n. One that is unknown.
- n. The quality or condition of being imperfectly known or difficult to understand: "writings meant to be understood . . . by all, composed without deliberate obscurity or hidden motives” ( National Review).
- n. An instance of being imperfectly known or difficult to understand.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. Darkness; the absence of light.
- n. The state of being unknown; a thing that is unknown
- n. The quality of being difficult to understand; a thing that is difficult to understand
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. The quality or state of being obscure.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The quality or state of being obscure; darkness; dimness; uncertainty of meaning; unintelligibleness; an obscure place, state, or condition; especially, the condition of being unknown.
- n. Synonyms Dimness, Gloom, etc. (see darkness), shade, obscuration; retirement, seclusion.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. an obscure and unimportant standing; not well known
- n. the quality of being unclear or abstruse and hard to understand
- n. the state of being indistinct or indefinite for lack of adequate illumination
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Examples
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While any list that highlights lesser known people who toil in obscurity is a good thing i would suggest the following:
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Now I appreciate that it may be a political fact of life in Canada that the surest way to send an up-and-coming cabinet minister to obscurity is to suggest that he has a great and glorious future before him, particularly when his Prime Minister is relatively young and healthy.
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The spectacular mistiming of his own 2001 memoir, Fugitive Days, doomed the book to short-term infamy and long-term obscurity.
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In each of those incredibly successful series there were stars that rose to the next level and others who have wallowed in obscurity (self-imposed or otherwise).
Twilight Lexicon » Twilight Fans Only Want to See Stars in Twilight Films
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Hardly content to toil in obscurity, Schumer honed his ability to insert himself front and center into the biggest issues of the day.
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May you live in obscurity and forever be associated with amongst your many crimes Abu Ghraib as Nixon is to Wartergate. —
Bush to Deliver Farewell Address on Thursday - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com
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It is an unlikely position for a company that, had it complied with collusive Japanese business traditions and paid heed to the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, would be stuck in obscurity making piston rings.
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Closer to our own time, Joseph Heller and William Gaddis spent years in obscurity doing menial writing-related work in order to write novels that at first few people cared about.
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I definitely think obscurity is worse for authors.
Piracy vs Obscurity: Which Is Worse For Authors? by Joanna Penn | The Creative Penn
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You pay your dues by toiling in obscurity and poverty for years, patiently perfecting your craft and hoping that somewhere, someone will recognize your hard work and give you a shot.
pterodactyl commented on the word obscurity
I spotted a very Wordie-like treatment of the word obscurity in an episode of the TV show QI -- you can watch it here.
April 25, 2008
sonofgroucho commented on the word obscurity
As in "plucked from obscurity".
December 30, 2006