▪ I. obˈfuscate, ppl. a. Now rare or Obs.
[ad. L. obfuscāt-us (also offuscātus), pa. pple. of obfuscāre: see next. Cf. the later variant offuscate.]
Darkened, obscured, obfuscated (lit. and fig.).
| 1531 Elyot Gov. ii. vii, The vertues beynge in a cruell persone be..obfuscate or hyd. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. III. 173 Obfuscat wes thair honour and thair name. 1600 E. Blount Hosp. Inc. Fooles 25 Their disturbed braine..obfuscate understanding. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. iii. ii. iii. iv. (1651) 482 A very obfuscate and obscure sight. 1888 Pall Mall G. 14 Feb. 11/2 Even the Tories, in their stupid and obfuscate way, are conscious of the fact. |
▪ II. obfuscate, v.
(əbˈfʌskeɪt, ˈɒbfʌskeɪt)
[f. L. obfuscāt-, ppl. stem of obfuscāre to darken, obscure, f. ob- (ob- 1 b) + fuscāre to darken, fuscus dark. See also the later form offuscate.]
1. trans. To darken, obscure (physically); to deprive of light or brightness; to overshadow or eclipse; to make dark or dusky. Now rare.
| 1650 Earl of Monmouth tr. Senault's Man bec. Guilty 336 [That] a constellation which was in all things inferiour to the Sun, should obfuscate his beauties. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Garden, A Garden should not be obfuscated or darkened. 1734 Eames in Phil. Trans. XXXVIII. 255 Atmospheres..so dense..as may suffice to obfuscate..the Light of the Star. a 1834 Lamb In re Squirrels Misc. Wks. (1871) 421 Rather more obfuscated than your fruit of Seville. |
† 2. fig. To darken or obscure to the mind or intellectual perception; to deprive of clearness, render obscure; to deprive of lustre or glory, throw into the shade. Obs.
| 1536 Act 28 Hen. VIII, c. 10 The..usurped auctorite of..the pope.. which did obfuscate and wrest goddes holy word. 1623 Hexham Tongue-Combat 94 To obfuscate truth, and cause men to..beleeue lyes. 1628 Prynne Love-lockes 53 Ecclipsing, obfuscating, and deprauing that naturall and liuely Beauty. 1702 Echard Eccl. Hist. (1710) 474 To obfuscate the brightness of the Gospel. |
3. To deprive of clearness of perception: a. to dim (the sight); b. to darken, obscure (the understanding, judgement, etc.); to darken the understanding of (a person), stupefy, bewilder.
| 1577 Patericke tr. Gentillet (1602) 33 Love of ones selfe obfuscateth and blindeth judgement. 1656 W. Coles Art of Simpling xxxii. 115 If his sight be obfuscated and dull. 1729 Berkeley Serm. Wks. 1871 IV. 632 Curb..every passion, each whereof inebriates and obfuscates no less than drink or meat. a 1862 Thoreau Yankee in Canada iii. (1866) 43 The process, not of enlightening, but of obfuscating the mind. 1893 Vizetelly Glances back I. xii. 239 He was obfuscated with brandy and water. |
Hence obfuscated ppl. a.
| 1620 Venner Via Recta Introd. 6 The Inhabitants..haue turbid and obfuscated spirits. 1792 A. Young Trav. France 195 The houses are of an ugly obfuscated brick. 1876 J. Weiss Wit, Hum. & Shaks. iii. 79 An obfuscated person who was feeling around in vain to recover his carpet-bag. |