different between obscure vs sombre

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

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French sombre (“dark”), from Old French sombre, from a verb *sombrer or Latin sub- + umbra. Compare Spanish sombra (“shade; dark part of a picture; ghost”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s?mb?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?s?mb?/
• Rhymes: -?mb?(?)
• Hyphenation: som?bre

Adjective

sombre (comparative sombrer, superlative sombrest) (British spelling, Canadian spelling)

1. Dark; gloomy; shadowy, dimly lit.
   • 2015, Hermann Kauders, Before The Cock Crows (?ISBN), page 9:

     The lady led him into a sombre hallway and disappeared. A moment later the windowless chamber was illuminated by the entry of a heavenly creature emitting a radiance prone to pierce the heart of any youth exposed to it.

2. Dull or dark in colour or brightness.
   • 1877, The Black Band; or, The Mysteries of Midnight, page 47:

     His tall and slender figure, dressed in sombre black, his hair of that peculiar reddish auburn so rarely seen, his flashing black eyes, in which a fitful fire seemed for ever burning; all combined to give something almost of a demoniac air ...

3. Melancholic, gloomy, dreary, dismal; grim.
   • 1845, Benjamin Disraeli, Sybil

     The dinner was silent and sombre; happily it was also short.

   • 2012, Peter Turnbull, Aftermath, Severn House Publishers Ltd (?ISBN)

     A sombre mood, very sombre in fact, thought Hennessey, as he stood against the wall observing the procedure for the police. He had not known a mood more sombre to have previously descended on the room.

4. Grave; extremely serious.

   a sombre situation

Alternative forms

• somber (US)

Synonyms

• melancholy
• dreary
• dire
• dismal

Translations

Noun

sombre (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) Gloom; obscurity; duskiness.

Verb

sombre (third-person singular simple present sombres, present participle sombring, simple past and past participle sombred)

1. To make sombre or dark; to make shady.

References

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

Anagrams

• bromes, ombres, somber

French

Etymology

From Old French sombre, from a verb *sombrer (from a Vulgar Latin *subumbr?re), or from Latin sub + umbra. Cf. also Spanish and Portuguese sombra (“shadow”), likely with influence from sol (“sun”). See also Old French essombre, with a different prefix.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s??b?/

Adjective

sombre (plural sombres)

1. dark
2. (derogatory) right, damn, bloody

Synonyms

• foncé
• obscur

Antonyms

• clair

Derived terms

• matière sombre

Descendants

• ? English: sombre

Verb

sombre

1. first-person singular present indicative of sombrer
2. third-person singular present indicative of sombrer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of sombrer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of sombrer
5. second-person singular imperative of sombrer

Further reading

• “sombre” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• ombres

Norman

Etymology

From Old French sombre, from a verb *sombrer (from a Vulgar Latin *subumbr?re), or from Latin sub (“under”) + umbra (“shadow”).

Adjective

sombre m or f

1. (Jersey) sombre, dark

Spanish

Verb

sombre

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of sombrar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of sombrar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of sombrar.
4. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of sombrar.