Obscurity
noun
The state of being unknown or forgotten.
After his brief fame, he quickly returned to obscurity.
Often appears as...
- fade into obscurity
- disappear into obscurity
noun
The condition of being unclear or difficult to understand.
His writings were full of obscurity and complex language.
Often appears as...
- into obscurity
- shroud of obscurity
Usage tips
Academic
noun
The quality of being dark or shadowy.
The obscurity of the room made it hard to see anything.
Often appears as...
- in obscurity
- the obscurity of night
Usage tips
Literary
noun
The state of being unknown or forgotten.
After his brief fame, he quickly returned to obscurity.
Often appears as...
- fade into obscurity
- disappear into obscurity
noun
The condition of being unclear or difficult to understand.
His writings were full of obscurity and complex language.
Often appears as...
- into obscurity
- shroud of obscurity
Usage tips
Academic
noun
The quality of being dark or shadowy.
The obscurity of the room made it hard to see anything.
Often appears as...
- in obscurity
- the obscurity of night
Usage tips
Literary
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Career Context
Used when discussing someone's public recognition, often in arts or sports.
Many talented artists remain in obscurity due to lack of exposure.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Always Negative
'Obscurity' can be chosen or welcomed, not just a result of failure.
He chose a life of obscurity over the stresses of fame.
Pro Tip 3/3Temporal Aspect
Often implies a change over time, from being known to less known.
Her inventions slid into obscurity after the initial hype died down.
Pro Tip 1/3Career Context
Used when discussing someone's public recognition, often in arts or sports.
Many talented artists remain in obscurity due to lack of exposure.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Always Negative
'Obscurity' can be chosen or welcomed, not just a result of failure.
He chose a life of obscurity over the stresses of fame.
Pro Tip 3/3Temporal Aspect
Often implies a change over time, from being known to less known.
Her inventions slid into obscurity after the initial hype died down.
Pro Tip 1/3Career Context
Used when discussing someone's public recognition, often in arts or sports.
Many talented artists remain in obscurity due to lack of exposure.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Always Negative
'Obscurity' can be chosen or welcomed, not just a result of failure.
He chose a life of obscurity over the stresses of fame.
Pro Tip 3/3Temporal Aspect
Often implies a change over time, from being known to less known.
Her inventions slid into obscurity after the initial hype died down.
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Video examples
Frank Drake’s Cosmic...
the only uh technological civilization or the only life in our galaxy or universe like that would be weird sophia isn't alone in her thinking and her fellow seti researchers are no longer toiling in obscurity the days of the giggle factor may at last be behind them in the future well that's about to change too
Video examples
Want interstellar...
and psychiatrist said each generation must out of relative obscurity discover its mission fulfill it or betray it we have to figure out what we're going to do with those radical leaps and how we're gonna get there but I guess first we actually have to talk about what is a
Video examples
Why should you read...
centers around the potential of Pip, an orphan plucked from obscurity by an anonymous benefactor and propelled into high society. In his search for purpose, Pip becomes the victim of other people’s ambitions for him and must negotiate with a shadowy cast of characters.
Video examples
History vs. Tamerlane...
he's remembered as a butcher. That’s more reflection of the success of his own propaganda than of the man himself. Hold on now, I think I’ve almost got the king cornered! Emerging from relative obscurity, Timur’s conquests formed a legacy
Video examples
Sarah Lewis: Embrace the...
with this level of exactitude, what it means to align your body posture for three hours in order to hit a target, pursuing a kind of excellence in obscurity. But I stayed because I realized I was witnessing what's so rare to glimpse,
Video examples
Got Millet? How...
With the help of this, over time, avocados went from a relative obscurity in the US to one of the most consumed fruits. Now what’s interesting about this is who was behind the Californian avocado farmers. They had a product,
Video examples
How did Dracula become...
Dracula lives on as the most famous vampire in history. But this Transylvanian noble, neither the first fictional vampire nor the most popular of his time, may have remained buried in obscurity if not for a twist of fate.
Video examples
The mysterious life and...
and how could a single monk be to blame for the fate of an empire? Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin began his life in Siberia, born in 1869 to a peasant family. He might have lived a life of obscurity in his small village,
Video examples
Daniel Libeskind's 17...
But the computer should not just be the glove of the hand; the hand should really be the driver of the computing power. Because I believe that the hand in all its primitive, in all its physiological obscurity,
Video examples
How to fossilize...yourse...
You made it! You spent years underground in obscurity, shedding blood, sweat, tears, and your internal organs. You worked yourself to the bone until your bones disintegrated
Video examples
Frank Drake’s Cosmic...
the only uh technological civilization or the only life in our galaxy or universe like that would be weird sophia isn't alone in her thinking and her fellow seti researchers are no longer toiling in obscurity the days of the giggle factor may at last be behind them in the future well that's about to change too
Video examples
Want interstellar...
and psychiatrist said each generation must out of relative obscurity discover its mission fulfill it or betray it we have to figure out what we're going to do with those radical leaps and how we're gonna get there but I guess first we actually have to talk about what is a
Video examples
Why should you read...
centers around the potential of Pip, an orphan plucked from obscurity by an anonymous benefactor and propelled into high society. In his search for purpose, Pip becomes the victim of other people’s ambitions for him and must negotiate with a shadowy cast of characters.
Video examples
History vs. Tamerlane...
he's remembered as a butcher. That’s more reflection of the success of his own propaganda than of the man himself. Hold on now, I think I’ve almost got the king cornered! Emerging from relative obscurity, Timur’s conquests formed a legacy
Video examples
Sarah Lewis: Embrace the...
with this level of exactitude, what it means to align your body posture for three hours in order to hit a target, pursuing a kind of excellence in obscurity. But I stayed because I realized I was witnessing what's so rare to glimpse,
Video examples
Got Millet? How...
With the help of this, over time, avocados went from a relative obscurity in the US to one of the most consumed fruits. Now what’s interesting about this is who was behind the Californian avocado farmers. They had a product,
Video examples
How did Dracula become...
Dracula lives on as the most famous vampire in history. But this Transylvanian noble, neither the first fictional vampire nor the most popular of his time, may have remained buried in obscurity if not for a twist of fate.
Video examples
The mysterious life and...
and how could a single monk be to blame for the fate of an empire? Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin began his life in Siberia, born in 1869 to a peasant family. He might have lived a life of obscurity in his small village,
Video examples
Daniel Libeskind's 17...
But the computer should not just be the glove of the hand; the hand should really be the driver of the computing power. Because I believe that the hand in all its primitive, in all its physiological obscurity,
Video examples
How to fossilize...yourse...
You made it! You spent years underground in obscurity, shedding blood, sweat, tears, and your internal organs. You worked yourself to the bone until your bones disintegrated
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Paul Auster
American Author
Don't be a writer; it's a terrible way to live your life. There's nothing to be gained from it but poverty and obscurity and solitude. So if you have a taste for all those things, which means that you really are burning to do it, then go ahead and do it. But don't expect anything from anybody.
Quote examples
Steve-O
British Celebrity
I guess I just always imagined that I was going to die, like, somehow on top. I was going to, like, go out in some sort of blaze of glory. I never thought about sort of fading into obscurity. And I've worked so hard at having a life, an identity, in obscurity and finding peace with that.
Quote examples
Sue Wicks
American Athlete
You have to demand things and believe you're worth more. And once you do demand them, you're usually going to get them. The players who first came in were very humble because we came from obscurity. Today's players, on the other hand, have a sense of entitlement.
Quote examples
Meg Rosoff
American Writer
The thing about adolescence is that you are emerging from a state of obscurity. You are coming out into the world from your family. Your family can seem normal because it is your family and all you know, but in fact it is a mess.
Quote examples
Ryan Holiday
American Author
Even people who despise ego and aspire to humility, who plan to be humble once they are successful, are worried that actually enacting those beliefs would sentence them to a life of obscurity or weakness or failure.
Quote examples
Hugh Miller
Scottish Scientist
Donald had reached its further edge, and could hear the rush of the stream from the deep obscurity of the abyss below, when there rose from the opposite side a strain of the most delightful music he had ever heard.
Quote examples
Carl Sagan
American Scientist
In our obscurity - in all this vastness - there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us.
Quote examples
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
French Philosopher
For ideas to prevail, many of their defenders have to die in obscurity. Their anonymous influence makes itself felt.
Quote examples
Robert De Niro
Actor
I think it's important to have had at least a few years of obscurity, where people treat you like everybody else.
Quote examples
Napoleon Bonaparte
French Statesman
Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.
Quote examples
Paul Auster
American Author
Don't be a writer; it's a terrible way to live your life. There's nothing to be gained from it but poverty and obscurity and solitude. So if you have a taste for all those things, which means that you really are burning to do it, then go ahead and do it. But don't expect anything from anybody.
Quote examples
Steve-O
British Celebrity
I guess I just always imagined that I was going to die, like, somehow on top. I was going to, like, go out in some sort of blaze of glory. I never thought about sort of fading into obscurity. And I've worked so hard at having a life, an identity, in obscurity and finding peace with that.
Quote examples
Sue Wicks
American Athlete
You have to demand things and believe you're worth more. And once you do demand them, you're usually going to get them. The players who first came in were very humble because we came from obscurity. Today's players, on the other hand, have a sense of entitlement.
Quote examples
Meg Rosoff
American Writer
The thing about adolescence is that you are emerging from a state of obscurity. You are coming out into the world from your family. Your family can seem normal because it is your family and all you know, but in fact it is a mess.
Quote examples
Ryan Holiday
American Author
Even people who despise ego and aspire to humility, who plan to be humble once they are successful, are worried that actually enacting those beliefs would sentence them to a life of obscurity or weakness or failure.
Quote examples
Hugh Miller
Scottish Scientist
Donald had reached its further edge, and could hear the rush of the stream from the deep obscurity of the abyss below, when there rose from the opposite side a strain of the most delightful music he had ever heard.
Quote examples
Carl Sagan
American Scientist
In our obscurity - in all this vastness - there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us.
Quote examples
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
French Philosopher
For ideas to prevail, many of their defenders have to die in obscurity. Their anonymous influence makes itself felt.
Quote examples
Robert De Niro
Actor
I think it's important to have had at least a few years of obscurity, where people treat you like everybody else.
Quote examples
Napoleon Bonaparte
French Statesman
Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.
Example 1 of 10
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