different between obscurity vs obscurant

English

Etymology

From Middle French obscurité, from Latin obsc?rit?s; synchronically analyzable as obscure +? -ity

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?b?skj????ti/, /?b?skj????ti/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?b?skj???ti/, /?b?skj??ti/
• Hyphenation: ob?scur?ity

Noun

obscurity (countable and uncountable, plural obscurities)

1. (literary) Darkness; the absence of light.
   • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, ch. 24

     I walked in, and Stroeve followed me. The room was in darkness. I could only see that it was an attic, with a sloping roof; and a faint glimmer, no more than a less profound obscurity, came from a skylight.

2. The state of being unknown; a thing that is unknown.
3. The quality of being difficult to understand; a thing that is difficult to understand.

Synonyms

• (the state of being unknown): unknownness

Antonyms

• (the state of being known): fame
• (the state of being clear): clarity

Related terms

• obscure

Translations

English

Etymology

Entering English circa 1793–1799: From German Obskurant and French obscurant, from classical Latin obsc?rant-, stem of obsc?r?ns, present participle of obsc?r?re (“to obscure”), from obsc?rus (“dark”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?b?skj????nt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?b?skj???nt/

Adjective

obscurant (comparative more obscurant, superlative most obscurant)

1. Acting or tending to confound, obfuscate, or obscure.
2. Typical of or pertaining to obscurants; obscurantic; obscurantistic.

Noun

obscurant (plural obscurants)

1. One who acts to confound or obfuscate; an obscurantist.
2. A person who seeks to prevent or hinder enquiry and the advancement of knowledge or wisdom; an agent of endarkenment.
3. An opposer of lucidity and transparency in the political and intellectual spheres.

Related terms

Translations

References

Anagrams

• subcantor

Latin

Verb

obsc?rant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of obsc?r?