different between unseen vs obscure
unseen
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?n?si?n/
- Rhymes: -i?n
Etymology 1
From Middle English unsen, unseyn, unseien, from Old English un?esewen, from Proto-Germanic *unsewanaz, equivalent to un- +? seen. Cognate with Dutch ongezien (“unseen”), German Low German unsehn (“unseen”), German ungesehen (“unseen”).
Adjective
unseen (not comparable)
- Not seen or discovered; invisible.
- 1890, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Chapter 9:
- You became to me the visible incarnation of that unseen ideal whose memory haunts us artists like an exquisite dream.
- 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Lecture 3:
- Were one asked to characterize the life of religion in the broadest and most general terms possible, one might say that it consists of the belief that there is an unseen order, and that our supreme good lies in harmoniously adjusting ourselves thereto.
- 1890, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Chapter 9:
- Unskilled; inexperienced.
- Not hitherto noticed; unobserved.
- ca. 1594', William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors, Act I, sc. 2:
- I to the world am like a drop of water
- That in the ocean seeks another drop,
- Who, falling there to find his fellow forth,
- Unseen, inquisitive, confounds himself.
- ca. 1594', William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors, Act I, sc. 2:
Derived terms
- sight unseen
Translations
Etymology 2
un- +? seen
Verb
unseen
- past participle of unsee
- What has been seen cannot be unseen.
Noun
unseen (plural unseens)
- An examination involving material not previously seen or studied.
- I have French and Latin unseens this summer.
unseen From the web:
- what's unseen is eternal
- unseen meaning
- unseen what's app
- what lies unseen
- what is unseen passage
- what is unseen aid
- what is unseen poetry
- what does unseen aid do
obscure
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)
- 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.
- 1892, Denton Jaques Snider, Inferno, 1, 1-2 (originally by Dante Alighieri)
- Hidden, out of sight or inconspicuous.
- 1606, John Davies of Hereford, Bien Venu
- the obscure corners of the earth
- 1606, John Davies of Hereford, Bien Venu
- Difficult to understand.
- Not well-known.
- 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)
- (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.
- c. 1688', William Wake, Preparation for Death
- (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.
- 1994, Bill Watterson, Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat, page 62
- (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
- feminine singular of obscur
Anagrams
- courbes
Latin
Adjective
obsc?re
- 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
obscure From the web:
- what obscure holiday is today
- what obscure means
- what obscure national holiday is it today
- what obscures the real reason for christmas
- what obscured
- what obscures the moon
- what obscure animal are you
- what obscure aesthetic are you
Share
Tweet
+1
Share
Pin
Like
Send
Share
you may also like
- unseen vs obscure
- arrive vs near
- notorious vs manifest
- sentence vs destiny
- munificently vs bountifully
- bountiful vs rich
- displeasure vs grudge
- magnanimous vs liberal
- nasty vs humid
- stop vs confine
- relate vs yell
- readily vs liberally
- locality vs room
- gracious vs advantageous
- vacillating vs questionable
- inclose vs comprehend
- wildness vs lavishness
- helpful vs ample
- trot vs journey
- flagrant vs atracious