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to befog

to befog

8.8
To make something hard to see or understand
  • verb
  • /bɪˈfɔɡ/
translation icon : nublar
  • Too many details can befog the main point of the presentation.

Examples

  • The remembrance of Christ can be made in a way that befogs other memories, the memories harbored by those beside us at the table or of those who feel alienated from the table.

    Academic text (2006)
  • Torture does what the Russian writer Aleksander Solzhenitsyn described in The Gulag Archipelago: it "befogs the reason, undermines the will, and the human being ceases to be himself, to be his own 'I.'"

    Blog text (11)
  • The fog and rain befog the view of the mountains.

  • The complicated instructions only serve to befog the students.

Synonyms

to blind
vsto befog
102 6.8

To make people not notice something by being more obvious

works by hiding or reducing contrast rather than broad covering
to obscure
vsto befog
86 7.0

Make something hard to see or understand

focuses more on reducing visible clarity than abstract meaning
to blur
vsto befog
61 3.6

To make something hard to see or understand

refers more to overall obscuring, not only softened edges
to cloud
vsto befog
56 4.4

To make something less clear or bright by covering it

focuses on obscuring rather than on dimming brightness
to blot out
vsto befog
8 5.4

Hide something so you cannot see it or remember it

means mere reduction of clarity rather than complete removal
to fog
vsto befog
7 5.2

To make something hard to see or understand

evokes atmospheric image rather than neutral obscuring
to mist
vsto befog
3 3.1

To become covered with fine drops that make something less clear

involves actual water droplets while the other is more general
to fuzz
vsto befog
2 5.6

To make an image or sound unclear

is used more for visual cases, not for sound
to deaden
vsto befog
1 6.1

To make an outline, sound, or feeling less clear

stresses loss of strength or muffling rather than simple clouding
to becloud
vsto befog
1 8.9

To make something less clear and hard to see, often by smoke, fog or strong feelings

is more general and not focused on physical covering
shrouded in mist
vsto befog
1 5.7

Covered by mist so you cannot see far

describes a covered state rather than an act of making unclear
to becloud the view
vsto befog
8.7

Make the view hard to see because of fog or smoke

refers specifically to blocking sight rather than general use
to obnubilate
vsto befog
  • Archaic
9.9

Make something unclear or hard to understand

is the common neutral word rather than formal vocabulary
to blear
vsto befog
9.9

To make the edges of things look dim or blurred

applies to general clarity loss, not limited to outlines
to bedim
vsto befog
9.9

To make something, like light and memory, less bright or clear

means darkening or dimming specifically rather than general obscuring
to haze over
vsto befog
5.3

Look less clear as if covered by a thin mist

conveys thin vapor image rather than neutral obscuring

Antonyms

2.3

Show something that was hidden or secret

248 3.3

To make something clear so others can understand it

How Clear

to clarify
248 3.3
to blur
61 3.6
to befog
8.8
to obscure
86 7.0

Surface Forms

befog infinitive
befogged past
befogged past participle
befogging present participle
befogs third person singular

Morphology

befog = fog (transparent) = be + fog

The prefix 'be-' is used to form verbs indicating the action of causing or affecting with the root 'fog'.

Etymology

The word befog comes from the start be- (a small word part that means 'make' or 'cover') plus fog, the mist you see in the air, so it originally meant 'to cover with fog'. That's why to befog something is to make it unclear or hard to understand.