FromMiddle Englishobscurite,obscuryte, fromMiddle Frenchobscurité and its etymonLatinobscūritās. Bysurface analysis,obscure +-ity.
obscurity (countable anduncountable,pluralobscurities)
- (literary)Darkness; theabsence oflight.
1907 January,Harold Bindloss, chapter 6, inThe Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen,→OCLC:The night was considerably clearer than anybody on board her desired when the schoonerVentura headed for the land. It rose in places, black and sharp against the velvety indigo, over her dipping bow, though most of the low littoral was wrapped inobscurity.
1919,W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 24”, inThe Moon and Sixpence,[New York, N.Y.]:Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […],→OCLC:I walked in, and Stroeve followed me. The room was in darkness. I could only see that it was anattic, with asloping roof; and a faint glimmer, no more than a less profoundobscurity, came from askylight.
- The state of beingunknown; a thing that is unknown.
1921,Ben Travers, chapter 5, inA Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.:Doubleday, Page & Company, published1925,→OCLC:The departure was not unduly prolonged.[…]Within the door Mrs. Spoker hastily imparted to Mrs. Love a few final sentiments[…]; a deep, guttural instigation to the horse; and the wheels of the waggonette crunched heavily away intoobscurity.
- The quality of beingdifficult tounderstand; a thing that is difficult to understand.
- (antonym(s) of“the state of being known”):fame
- (antonym(s) of“the state of being clear”):clarity
darkness; the absence of light
The state of being unknown; a thing that is unknown
The quality of being difficult to understand; a thing that is difficult to understand
