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Minority vs Obscure - What's the difference?

minority | obscure |

As a noun minority

is the state of being a minor; youth, the period of a person's life prior to reaching adulthood.

As an adjective obscure is

dark, faint or indistinct.

As a verb obscure is

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.

minority

English

Noun

(minorities)
  • The state of being a minor; youth, the period of a person's life prior to reaching adulthood.
  • * 2011 , (Norman Davies), Vanished Kingdoms , Penguin 2012, p. 117:
  • She also played a key role as dowager-regent during the minority of her son.
  • Any subgroup that does not form a numerical majority.
  • Most people agreed, but a sizable minority were upset by the decision.
  • Empowered by or representing a minority (usually a plurality) of votes cast, legislative seats, etc., rather than an outright majority thereof.
  • (US) A member of an ethnic minority.
  • The company claims it has hired several minorities since the complaint was lodged.

    Synonyms

    * (youth) childhood

    Antonyms

    * (subgroup) majority * (youth) adulthood

    Derived terms

    * majority-minority * minority government * minority group * minority leader * minority report * minority rule

    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.