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Eclipse vs Obscure - What's the difference?

eclipse | obscure |

As verbs the difference between eclipse and obscure

is that eclipse is while obscure is (label) 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.

As an adjective obscure is

dark, faint or indistinct.

eclipse

Noun

(en noun)
  • (astronomy) An alignment of astronomical objects in which a planetary object (for example, the Moon) comes between the Sun and another planetary object (for example, the Earth), resulting in a shadow being cast by the middle planetary object onto the other planetary object.
  • A seasonal state of plumage in some birds, notably ducks, adopted temporarily after the breeding season and characterised by a dull and scruffy appearance.
  • , decline, downfall
  • * , ''A Dictionary of the English Language , Volume 2, unnumbered page,
  • All the posterity of our first parents suffered a perpetual eclipse of spiritual life.
  • * 1820', '', '''1839 , ''The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley , page 340,
  • As in the soft and sweet eclipse , / When soul meets soul on lovers' lips.
  • * 1929 , , (A House is Built) , Chapter VIII, Section ii
  • Nor were the wool prospects much better. The industry of the colony, was threatened once more with eclipse .

    Derived terms

    * lunar eclipse * solar eclipse * total eclipse

    See also

    * occultation * syzygy

    Verb

  • Of astronomical bodies, to cause an eclipse.
  • The Moon eclipsed the Sun.
  • To overshadow; to be better or more noticeable than.
  • The student’s skills soon eclipsed those of his teacher.
  • * Shakespeare
  • My joy of liberty is half eclipsed .
  • (Irish grammar) To undergo eclipsis.
  • obscure

    English

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Dark, faint or indistinct.
  • * (Dante Alighieri), , 1, 1-2
  • I found myself in an obscure wood.
  • * Bible, Proverbs xx. 20
  • His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.
  • Hidden, out of sight or inconspicuous.
  • * (William Shakespeare)
  • The obscure bird / Clamoured the livelong night.
  • * Sir J. Davies
  • the obscure corners of the earth
  • Difficult to understand.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The machine of a new soul , passage=The yawning gap in neuroscientists’ understanding of their topic is in the intermediate scale of the brain’s anatomy. Science has a passable knowledge of how individual nerve cells, known as neurons, work. It also knows which visible lobes and ganglia of the brain do what. But how the neurons are organised in these lobes and ganglia remains obscure .}}

    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

    * enigmatic * mysterious * esoteric

    Antonyms

    * clear

    Derived terms

    * obscurable * unobscurable

    Verb

    (obscur)
  • (label) 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.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • They are all couched in a pit hard by Herne's oak, with obscured lights.
  • * (William Wake) (1657-1737)
  • There is scarce any duty which has been so obscured by the writings of learned men as this.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1959, author=(Georgette Heyer), title=(The Unknown Ajax), chapter=1
  • , passage=But Richmond
  • (label) To hide, put out of sight etc.
  • * (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.
  • To conceal oneself; to hide.
  • * (Beaumont and Fletcher) (1603-1625)
  • How! There's bad news. / I must obscure , and hear it.