Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One who opposes intellectual advancement and political reform.
  • adjective Characterized by opposition to intellectual advancement and political reform.
  • adjective Tending to make obscure.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Obscuring or darkening; of the nature of, or characteristic of, an obscurant.
  • noun One who or that which obscures; specifically, one who labors to prevent inquiry, enlightenment, or reform; an obscurantist.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who obscures; one who prevents enlightenment or hinders the progress of knowledge and wisdom.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Acting or tending to confound, obfuscate, or obscure.
  • adjective Typical of or pertaining to obscurants; obscurantic; obscurantistic.
  • noun One who acts to confound or obfuscate; an obscurantist.
  • noun A person who seeks to prevent or hinder enquiry and the advancement of knowledge or wisdom; an agent of endarkenment.
  • noun An opposer of lucidity and transparency in the political and intellectual spheres.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Entering English circa 1793–1799: From German Obskurant and French obscurant, from classical Latin obscūrant-, stem of obscūrāns, present participle of obscūrāre ("to obscure"), from obscūrus ("dark").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word obscurant.

Examples

  • Israel appeared to be using white phosphorus as an "obscurant" (a chemical used to hide military operations), a permissible use in principle under international humanitarian law (the laws of war).

    AfterDowningStreet.org - Bush-Cheney Trials in '09 2009

  • Israel appears to be using WP as an "obscurant" (a chemical used to hide military operations), a permissible use in principle under international humanitarian law (the laws of war).

    AfterDowningStreet.org - Bush-Cheney Trials in '09 2009

  • Israel appears to be using WP as an "obscurant" (a chemical used to hide military operations),

    Palestine Blogs aggregator 2009

  • Israel appeared to be using white phosphorus as an "obscurant" (a chemical used to hide military operations), a permissible use in principle under international humanitarian law (the laws of war).

    AfterDowningStreet.org - Bush-Cheney Trials in '09 2009

  • Israel appears to be using WP as an "obscurant" (a chemical used to hide military operations), a permissible use in principle under international humanitarian law (the laws of war).

    AfterDowningStreet.org - Bush-Cheney Trials in '09 2009

  • Israel appeared to be using white phosphorus as an "obscurant" (a chemical used to hide military operations), a permissible use in principle under international humanitarian law (the laws of war).

    Palestine Blogs aggregator 2009

  • Israel appeared to be using white phosphorus as an "obscurant" (a chemical used to hide military operations), a permissible use in principle under international humanitarian law (the laws of war).

    BBSNews ATOM 0.3 Newsreader Feed 2009

  • Israel appeared to be using white phosphorus as an "obscurant" (a chemical used to hide military operations), a permissible use in principle under international humanitarian law (the laws of war).

    Palestine Blogs aggregator 2009

  • International law does not outlaw white phosphorus, an "obscurant" used to create smoke screens to cover troop movements of illuminated targets, but human rights groups have said that its use could be illegal in civilian areas if "all feasible precautions" are not taken.

    AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE) 2009

  • Israel appeared to be using white phosphorus as an "obscurant" (a chemical used to hide military operations), a permissible use in principle under international humanitarian law (the laws of war).

    AfterDowningStreet.org - Bush-Cheney Trials in '09 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.