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Obscure vs Manipulative - What's the difference?

obscure | manipulative |

As adjectives the difference between obscure and manipulative

is that obscure is dark, faint or indistinct while manipulative is using manipulation purposefully.

As a verb 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 a noun manipulative is

a manipulable object designed to demonstrate a mathematical concept.

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

    * * ----

    manipulative

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Using manipulation purposefully.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-01
    • , author=Robert M. Pringle , title=How to Be Manipulative , volume=100, issue=1, page=31 , magazine= citation , passage=As in much of biology, the most satisfying truths in ecology derive from manipulative experimentation. Tinker with nature and quantify how it responds.}}
  • Tending to manipulate others.
  • (pejorative) Reaching one's goals at the expense of other people by using them.

    • Noun

    (en noun) (Mathematical manipulative)
  • A manipulable object designed to demonstrate a mathematical concept.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2008, date=April 25, author=Kenneth Chang, title=Study Suggests Math Teachers Scrap Balls and Slices, work=New York Times citation
    • , passage=Some children need manipulatives to learn math basics, Dr. Clements said, but only as a starting point. }} ----