obfuscatory
1
9.3
- adjective
- /ˌɑb.fəˈskeɪ.tɔːr.i/
- Formal
:
ofuscante
- Contradictory language in contracts and TOSs is often, though not always, deliberately obfuscatory and should raise at least a yellow flag.
This man, his irony deficit, his words are obfuscatory.
- This man, his irony deficit, his words are obfuscatory.
Examples
-
Of course, reading between the lines, all of these obfuscatory responses from the creationists amount to nothing less than an admission that they have suffered yet another abject defeat on this issue.
Blog text (26) -
It's hard to imagine a more feckless and obfuscatory response to Sunday's game than to make Greg Little the headline scapegoat for it.
Blog text (17) -
Both Sasha and Masha have a propensity, like many young Russians, to speak in the floridly vague, precisely obfuscatory language of the ruling class.
Academic text (2011) -
In contrast, the new theorists have so far had to sustain few attacks on their own certainties, thanks to their long having shielded themselves behind a virtual Berlin Wall of obfuscatory terminology.
Academic text (1990) -
Beneath the obfuscatory complexity of such negatives and adjectives working against each other, there surely lurks a discernible degree of doubt as to whether the court was content with the implications of what it was doing.
Academic text (2010) -
The instructions were filled with obfuscatory language that made it difficult to understand how to use the device.
-
His obfuscatory comments during the meeting confused everyone and obscured the main issue.
-
The author used an obfuscatory style in the book, leaving readers puzzled about his true intentions.
Synonyms
276
3.2
Hard to understand and makes people feel unsure
43
8.1
Hard to understand because it seems secret or mysterious
1
7.7
Making people confused and things hard to understand
Causing confusion on purpose
Saying things that hide the truth to trick people
Hard to understand because it has a hidden meaning
Making something hard to understand or follow
Antonyms
How Obscure
27
6.4
7
7.3
- Formal
1
9.3
28
8.2
230
4.6
207
3.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
obfuscatory = obfuscate (transparent) = ob + fusc + ate + ory
Formed by adding the adjectival suffix '-ory' to the verb 'obfuscate', yielding an adjective meaning 'making unclear', which is directly predictable from the base.
Etymology
Obfuscatory comes from Latin parts ob- and fusc-, with fusc- meaning 'dark', so the original idea is 'to darken'. So an obfuscatory answer is like throwing a shadow over an idea — it makes things hard to see or understand, often on purpose.