obfuscate
English
editEtymology
editFrom Middle French obfusquer, from Old French offusquer, and the participle stem of Late Latin obfuscō, from Latin ob- + fuscō (“to darken”).
Pronunciation
edit- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɒbfʌskeɪt/, /ˈɒbfəskeɪt/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈɑbfʌskeɪt/, /ˈɑbfəskeɪt/
Audio (US): (file)
Verb
editobfuscate (third-person singular simple present obfuscates, present participle obfuscating, simple past and past participle obfuscated)
- To make dark; to overshadow.
- To deliberately make more confusing in order to conceal the truth.
- obfuscate facts
- Can weakness be really obfuscated?
- Before leaving the scene, the murderer set a fire in order to obfuscate any evidence of his identity.
- 2018 February 13, Anonymous White House Official, “White House reels as FBI director contradicts official claims about alleged abuser”, in Washington Post:
- When asked if Kelly could have been more transparent or truthful, that official wrote: “In this White House, it’s simply not in our DNA. Truthful and transparent is great, but we don’t even have a coherent strategy to obfuscate.”
- (computing) To alter code while preserving its behavior but concealing its structure and intent.
- We need to obfuscate these classes before we ship the final release.
Conjugation
editConjugation of obfuscate
infinitive | (to) obfuscate | ||
---|---|---|---|
present tense | past tense | ||
1st-person singular | obfuscate | obfuscated | |
2nd-person singular | obfuscate, obfuscatest† | obfuscated, obfuscatedst† | |
3rd-person singular | obfuscates, obfuscateth† | obfuscated | |
plural | obfuscate | ||
subjunctive | obfuscate | obfuscated | |
imperative | obfuscate | — | |
participles | obfuscating | obfuscated |
Synonyms
edit- (to make dark): darken, eclipse, overshadow
- (to deliberately make more confusing): confuse, muddle, obscure
Antonyms
editDerived terms
editRelated terms
editTranslations
editmake dark
|
make confusing
|
alter code
Adjective
editobfuscate (comparative more obfuscate, superlative most obfuscate)
- (obsolete) Obfuscated; darkened; obscured.
- 1531, Thomas Elyot, edited by Ernest Rhys, The Boke Named the Governour […] (Everyman’s Library), London: J[oseph] M[alaby] Dent & Co; New York, N.Y.: E[dward] P[ayson] Dutton & Co, published [1907], →OCLC:
- Also the vertues beynge in a cruell persone be nat only obfuscate or hyd : But also lyke wyse as norysshynge meates and drynkes in an sycke body
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *dʰewh₂-
- English terms borrowed from Middle French
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Late Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 3-syllable words
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- en:Computing
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