The AI-powered English dictionary
countable and uncountable, plural obscurities
(literary) Darkness; the absence of light. quotations examples
The night was considerably clearer than anybody on board her desired when the schooner Ventura headed for the land. It rose in places, black and sharp against the velvety indigo, over her dipping bow, though most of the low littoral was wrapped in obscurity.
1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 6, in The Dust of Conflict
I walked in, and Stroeve followed me. The room was in darkness. I could only see that it was an attic, with a sloping roof; and a faint glimmer, no more than a less profound obscurity, came from a skylight.
1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 24”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […]
The state of being unknown; a thing that is unknown. quotations examples
The departure was not unduly prolonged. […] Within the door Mrs. Spoker hastily imparted to Mrs. Love a few final sentiments […] ; a deep, guttural instigation to the horse; and the wheels of the waggonette crunched heavily away into obscurity.
1922, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest
The quality of being difficult to understand; a thing that is difficult to understand. examples