different between befog vs obscure

English

Etymology

From be- +? fog.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -??

Verb

befog (third-person singular simple present befogs, present participle befogging, simple past and past participle befogged)

1. To envelop in fog or smoke.
   • 1916, E. F. Benson, “The Spiritual Pastor” in The Freaks of Mayfair, London: T.N. Foulis, p. 186,^[1]

     Clouds of the most expensive incense befog the chancel […]

   • 1953, Jean Stafford, “Cops and Robbers” (original title: “The Shorn Lamb”) in The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford, New York: Dutton, 1984, p. 432,

     Sad, in her covert, Hannah saw that her mother was now sitting straight against the headboard and was smoking a cigarette in long, meditative puffs; the smoke befogged her frowning forehead.

2. To confuse, mystify (a person); to make less acute or perceptive, to cloud (a person’s faculties).
   • 1871, Carl Schurz, Speech in the U.S. Senate, 27 January, 1871, in Frederic Bancroft (ed.), Speeches, Correspondence and Political Papers of Carl Schurz, New York: Putnam, 1913, Volume II, p. 151,^[2]

     The voice of interested sycophancy is apt to fill their ears and to befog their judgment.

   • 1921, Harold MacGrath, The Pagan Madonna, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page, Chapter 14, p. 177,^[3]

     “ […] He’s been blarneying you. You’ve let his plausible tongue and handsome face befog you.”

   • 1938, Rabindranath Tagore, “Worshippers of Buddha” in The Visva-Bharati Quarterly, Volume 4, Part 1, May–July 1938, p. 28,^[4]

     […] they pray that they may befog minds with untruths

     and poison God’s sweet air of breath,

   • 1981, Ramsey Campbell, The Nameless, New York: Tor, 1985, Chapter Eight, p. 75,^[5]

     Everything looked gray and shabby, the faces as much as the clothes. She thought it was less the shade than the noise which was befogging her vision, choking her thoughts.

3. To obscure, make less clear (a subject, issue, etc.).
   • 1918, John H. Stokes, The Third Great Plague: A Discussion of Syphilis for Everyday People, Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders, Chapter 2, pp. 15-16,^[6]

     There is only one way to understand syphilis, and that is to give it impartial, discriminating discussion as an issue which concerns the general health. To color it up and hang it in a gallery of horrors, or to befog it with verbal turnings and twistings, are equally serious mistakes.

References

• befog in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Hungarian

Etymology

be- +? fog

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?b?fo?]
• Hyphenation: be?fog
• Rhymes: -o?

Verb

befog

1. (transitive, of ears, mouth, eyes) to cover
2. (transitive, of a draught animal) to harness (to attach a draught animal to a carriage)
3. (transitive, of a person) to make someone work
4. (transitive) to clamp (to grip tightly in a vice)

Conjugation

Derived terms

• befogás

(Expressions):

• befogja a száját

English

Etymology

From Middle English obscure, from Old French obscur, from Latin obsc?rus (“dark, dusky, indistinct”), from ob- +? *sc?rus, from Proto-Italic *skoiros, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)?eh?-.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?b?skj??(?)/, /?b?skj??(?)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?b?skj??/, /?b?skj?/
• Rhymes: -??(?), -??(?), -??(?)
• Hyphenation: ob?scure

Adjective

obscure (comparative obscurer or more obscure, superlative obscurest or most obscure)

1. Dark, faint or indistinct.
   • 1892, Denton Jaques Snider, Inferno, 1, 1-2 (originally by Dante Alighieri)

     I found myself in an obscure wood.

   • His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.

2. Hidden, out of sight or inconspicuous.
   • 1606, John Davies of Hereford, Bien Venu

     the obscure corners of the earth

3. Difficult to understand.

4. Not well-known.
5. Unknown or uncertain; unclear.

   The etymological roots of the word "blizzard" are obscure and open to debate.

Usage notes

• The comparative obscurer and superlative obscurest, though formed by valid rules for English, are less common than more obscure and most obscure.

Synonyms

• (dark): cimmerian, dingy; See also Thesaurus:dark
• (faint or indistinct): fuzzy, ill-defined; See also Thesaurus:indistinct
• (hidden, out of sight): occluded, secluded; See also Thesaurus:hidden
• (difficult to understand): fathomless, inscrutable; See also Thesaurus:incomprehensible
• (not well-known): enigmatic, esoteric, mysterious; See also Thesaurus:arcane

Antonyms

• clear

Derived terms

• obscurable
• unobscurable
• obscureness

Related terms

• obscurity
• obscuration

Translations

Verb

obscure (third-person singular simple present obscures, present participle obscuring, simple past and past participle obscured)

1. (transitive) To render obscure; to darken; to make dim; to keep in the dark; to hide; to make less visible, intelligible, legible, glorious, beautiful, or illustrious.
   • c. 1688', William Wake, Preparation for Death

     There is scarce any duty which has been so obscured in the writings of learned men as this.

2. (transitive) To hide, put out of sight etc.
   • 1994, Bill Watterson, Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat, page 62

     I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity.

3. (intransitive, obsolete) To conceal oneself; to hide.

   • How! There's bad news. / I must obscure, and hear it.

Synonyms

• (to render obscure; to darken; dim): becloud, bedarken, bedim, bemist

Translations

Further reading

• obscure in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• obscure in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Cuberos

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p.sky?/

Adjective

obscure

1. feminine singular of obscur

Anagrams

• courbes

Latin

Adjective

obsc?re

1. vocative masculine singular of obsc?rus

References

• obscure in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• obscure in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• obscure in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette