obscure

Universal Words adjective, verb adjective 1 not well known: an obscure German poet * We went to see one of Shakespeare's more obscure plays. * He was born around 1650 but his origins remain obscure. 2 difficult to understand: I found her lecture very obscure. * For some obscure reason, he failed to turn up. * The meaning of his comment was obscure to everyone but himself. obscurely adverb: They were making her feel obscurely worried (= for reasons that were difficult to understand). verb [VN] to make it difficult to see, hear or understand sth: The view was obscured by fog. * Symptoms of the disease can easily be obscured. * We mustn't let these minor details obscure the main issue. * A shadow fell across her face, obscuring her expression.