OBSCURING Synonyms: 77 Similar and Opposite Words

obscuring

verb

present participle of obscure

as in concealing

to keep secret or shut off from view the investigative reporters obscured their real motives for visiting the company by pretending the story was about something else

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in blurring

to make dark, dim, or indistinct when it isn't obscured by smog, the view of the city from the observatory can be spectacular

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of obscuring In the early ‘80s, the singer was already obscuring his Blackness with makeup (prior to remaking his features with plastic surgery). — Carolina A. Miranda, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2026 Digital secondary channels have become the main outlet for liquidating illicit inventories, often obscuring sellers’ origins while reaching millions of buyers worldwide. — Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 19 Oct. 2026 Musk has his own political action committee, which has also committed money to Paxton’s cause, but the $158 million was routed through a separate group, the Senate Leadership Fund, obscuring for weeks the extent of his involvement. — Casey Murray, Houston Chronicle, 16 Oct. 2026 Just such an October weather pattern occurred 61 years ago, obscuring predawn views of the spectacular Comet Ikeya-Seki for most observers east of the Mississippi — an ironic fate for the most brilliant comet of the 20th century. — Joe Rao, Space.com, 8 Oct. 2026 Today’s problem is hyperscalers spending themselves into oblivion, spreading inflation well beyond Silicon Valley and obscuring problems nearly everywhere else. — Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 7 Oct. 2026 But the speculation had become the real story, obscuring the events that were being bet on. — Simon Denny, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026 Bonny abandons her film, recognizing how its obscuring her filial understanding. — Ryan Chapman, Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2026 The moonphase displayed is not created by partially obscuring an image of the Moon, but by the continuous movement of the two, illustrating the time elapsed between one new moon and the next full moon. — Carol Besler, Robb Report, 15 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for obscuring

Verb

The gloom was useful for masking scavenging activities and for concealing one’s identity.

— Jeff Spry, Space.com, 21 Oct. 2026
Meier serves drinks to the enemy, while concealing his Jewish identity.

— Monitor reviewers, Christian Science Monitor, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of concealing

Verb

Macron has also successfully poached multiple party members to serve in his Cabinet, blurring the relationship further.

— Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 22 Oct. 2026
Scientists have been able to measure quantum effects in larger and more complex systems and over great distances, blurring the line once thought to separate the scale of observer and observed.

— Philipp Strasberg, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of blurring

Verb

Some senators fled while others braced themselves inside the Senate chamber as Officer Eugene Goodman tried to reason with the mob, and Senate staffers barricaded themselves in offices, hiding.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026
Joseph had spent most of the war hiding in the forest with the Bielski partisan force, a Jewish resistance group.

— Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of hiding

Verb

Abdalla’s fall refresh enhances her brunette base by darkening her roots and replacing those golden ribbons with warm brunette tones for lived-in dimension.

— Emily Tannenbaum, Glamour, 20 Oct. 2026
But the security backdrop in the Strait of Hormuz is darkening even as rates fall.

— Glenn Taylor, Footwear News, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of darkening

Verb

In terms of color gamut, the Scar 18 ranked highest among its competitors, covering 100% of the sRGB and DCI-P3 gamuts, and 94% of Adobe RGB.

— Marshall Honorof, PC Magazine, 24 Oct. 2026
Months later, the Austin City Council approved a $35 million settlement covering the three surviving men and Pierce’s family.

— Leigh Egan, FOXNews.com, 24 Oct. 2026

Definition of covering

Verb

Something about home or family could be distracting you in a way that’s clouding your read on your professional situation today.

— Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 25 Sep. 2026
Beyond the 2022 case dismissal, in other instances, charges were never filed, information has come out clouding an accuser’s story, or Brown has counter-sued for defamation — details which complicate each story.

— Leah Asmelash, CNN Money, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of clouding

Verb

Seattle accomplishes this by masterfully disguising defensive assignments before the snap, which can force Mahomes to diagnose where to go with the football only after dropping back.

— Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 22 Oct. 2026
These scams convince people to execute malicious commands themselves, often by disguising the instructions as a software installation or troubleshooting step.

— Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of disguising

Verb

Lines at Russian gas stations, crippled refineries, and images of burning oil depots blackening the sky lent credence to the narrative, as did blackouts and fuel shortages in Crimea.

— Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 26 Sep. 2026
There’s more than just blackening bananas; electrodes embedded in the fruit transmit electrical signals into sound and light tones that constantly shift.

— Jane Wooldridge, Miami Herald, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of blackening

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obscures

obscuring

obscurity

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“Obscuring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/obscuring. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of obscuring

verb

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