obscure

Examples

• All

• Johnny came across an obscure rite in an ancient manuscript.

  Angel Heart (1987)

• The Captain led me to an iron door in an obscure corner, and to the small room beyond.

  Fiction book (1997)

• And then he had to go to the most obscure place on the planet

  Coronado (2003)

• One minute I was a frustrated boy... ...in an obscure little town.

  Amadeus (1984)

• Fortunately, the dialect is quite obscure.

  Cremaster 3 (2002)

• I chose another, suitably obscure city, hundreds of miles away, as our new locale.

  Fiction book (1997)

• A nervous smile appeared and the landlord's eyes flitted between obscure points in the half-light.

  Fiction book (1990)

• She found an obscure book in the library that discussed ancient civilizations.

• They went on a journey to an obscure village that is rarely visited by tourists.

Synonyms

H

hidden

vsobscure

801 1.1

A thing that is not easily seen or found

is about appearing inconspicuous rather than deliberate concealment

U

unknown

vsobscure

520 2.3

Not known or named, often with no name given

focuses on visibility and discoverability rather than general knowledge

I

invisible

vsobscure

319 2.7

Not easy for other people to notice

is less extreme, meaning simply not easy to locate or spot

E

elusive

vsobscure

79 7.0

Hard to find or catch, like an animal that avoids people

focuses more on passive difficulty of being seen or located

U

unnoticed

vsobscure

63 2.5

Other people do not see or pay attention to it

refers more generally to being not easy to notice or find

U

unseen

vsobscure

52 3.2

Hidden so people do not notice it

focuses on being difficult to notice or discover visually

L

little-known

vsobscure

49 7.3

Few people know about it

is about physical or visual difficulty rather than limited fame

U

under the radar

vsobscure

45 5.2

People do not notice it because someone keeps it quiet

describes inconspicuousness without implying deliberate avoidance

U

undetected

vsobscure

43 4.6

Not found or noticed by others

is the broader quality of being hard to detect or notice

U

undetectable

vsobscure

23 6.5

Very hard or impossible to notice

is milder, meaning merely not easily seen or found

I

inconspicuous

vsobscure

15 6.9

Not easy to see or notice

is similar but focuses on being simply hard to discover

U

unnoticeable

vsobscure

2 4.6

Hard to see or notice

is a bit broader, meaning not easily seen or found

U

unobservable

vsobscure

1 8.0

Not able to be seen or noticed when you look

is the everyday sense of being hard to notice or find

U

unfindable

vsobscure

1 7.1

Very hard to find

is about being hard to discover but not utterly unreachable

U

unobvious

vsobscure

1 7.8

Hard to notice or understand at first

covers the same lack of notice but more generally over time

U

unapparent

vsobscure

1 7.9

Not easily seen, noticed, or understood

highlights physical or visual difficulty of being discovered

I

imperceivable

vsobscure

1 8.4

Too small to be seen, heard, or noticed

allows for limited noticing, not absolute imperceptibility

U

underseen

vsobscure

1 8.3

Seen by only a few people

refers to not being easily noticed or discovered by sight

I

inapparent

vsobscure

1 8.1

Hard to see or notice

points to being hard to find rather than unclear in look

I

introuvable

vsobscure

9.9

Very hard to find or get

refers instead to being physically hard to see or detect

Antonyms

O

obvious

∞ 1.0

Easy to see or understand

V

visible

389 1.0

Easy to see or notice

How Visible

conspicuous

46 5.1

visible

389 1.0

obscure

4 6.6

hidden

801 1.1

invisible

319 2.7

Surface Forms

Etymology