obscurity
/əbˈskjʊɹɪti/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.20 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
4
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The quality of being difficult to understand; a thing that is difficult to understand.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "The night was considerably clearer than anybody on board her desired when the schooner Ventura headed for the land. It rose in places, black and sharp against the velvety indigo, over her dipping bow, though most of the low littoral was wrapped in obscurity."
- "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."
- "She was plucked from obscurity to star in a Broadway musical."
- "The departure was not unduly prolonged.[…]Within the door Mrs. Spoker hastily imparted to Mrs. Love a few final sentiments[…]; a deep, guttural instigation to the horse; and the wheels of the waggonette crunched heavily away into obscurity."
Etymology
From Middle English obscurite, obscuryte, from Middle French obscurité and its etymon Latin obscūritās. By surface analysis, obscure + -ity.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *(s)ḱeh₃-, obscurite, obscurité, obscūritās
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /əbˈskjʊɹɪti/
- British English: /əbˈskjʊəɹɪti/