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Hinder vs Obscure - What's the difference?

hinder | obscure |

In transitive terms the difference between hinder and obscure

is that hinder is to keep back; to delay or impede; to prevent while obscure is to hide, put out of sight etc.

As a noun hinder

is the buttocks.

hinder

English

Alternative forms

* hindre (archaic)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) hindrian, from (etyl) .

Verb

(en verb)
  • To make difficult to accomplish; to frustrate, act as obstacle.
    • A drought hinders the growth of plants.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=December 10 , author=David Ornstein , title=Arsenal 1 - 0 Everton , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Arsenal were playing without a recognised full-back - their defence comprising four centre-halves - and the lack of width was hindering their progress.}}
  • * 1599 , act ii, scene 2 (act i; First Folio ed.):
    • Since God ?o graciou?ly hath brought to light
    This dangerous Trea?on, lurking in our way,
    To hinder our beginnings.
  • To keep back; to delay or impede; to prevent.
  • * 1591 , act ii, scene 7 (First Folio ed.):
    • Then let me goe, and hinder not my cour?e
  • * John Locke
    • What hinders younger brothers, being fathers of families, from having the same right?
  • (obsolete) To cause harm.
    • Quotations
    * (English Citations of "hinder")
    Synonyms
    * (to delay or impede movement) bar, block, delay, hamper, impede, obstruct, restrain, stop * (to make a task difficult) delay, frustrate, hamper, impede, obstruct, prevent, thwart * See also
    Antonyms
    * (to delay or impede movement) aid, assist, help * (to make a task difficult) assist, expedite, facilitate, help
    Derived terms
    * hinderment * hinderer * hindrance * unhindered

    Etymology 2

    (hind)

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Of or belonging to that part or end which is in the rear or hind, or which follows.
    • the hinder end of a wagon
    the hinder parts of a horse
  • * 1990 - C. W. H. Havard (ed.), Black's Medical Dictionary , 36th edition, p 673
    • On a line dividing the front two-thirds from the hinder one-third, and set in the shape of a V, is a row of seven to twelve large flat-topped circumvallate papillae, ...
  • (hind)
    • Usage notes
    Most current uses of this adjective occur in anatomical contexts.
    Quotations
    * (English Citations of "hinder")
    Synonyms
    * (of or belonging to that part in the rear) back, hind, rear, posterior
    Antonyms
    * (of or belonging to that part in the rear) fore, front
    Related terms
    * hind * hindermost * hindmost

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (slang, euphemistic) The buttocks.
  • * 1997 , Richard Laliberte and Stephen C. George, The Men's Health Guide to Peak Conditioning [http://books.google.com/books?id=2MOrDKokat8C], ISBN 0875963234, page 195:
    • Like martial arts, in-line skating is predicated on the notion that sooner or later you're going to end up on your hinder .
    Quotations
    * (English Citations of "hinder")

    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

    Related terms

    * obscurity * obscuration

    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.

    External links

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