as in confusing
to make (something) unclear to the understanding
irrelevant matters that only serve to obfuscate the fundamental issue of guilt or innocence
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Recent Examples of obfuscating
When The Star requested records related to ATO being placed on probation last year, the outcome letter KU provided was heavily redacted, completely obfuscating the narrative of the hazing allegations that university investigators found to be credible.
—
Matthew Kelly
april 6, Kansas City Star, 6 Apr. 2026
The renderings, which showed an imposing new East Wing roughly a city block long, would be longer than the West Wing and almost completely obfuscating the view of the Treasury Building from the White House's South Lawn.
—Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today, 26 Feb. 2026
Lawyers for the group contend that the city is willfully obfuscating to cover up its inadequate efforts to live up to its settlement.
—Los Angeles Times, 16 Jan. 2026
The state says the foundation did this because Aerial Recovery, the nonprofit, had been obfuscating its name.
—Evan Mealins, Nashville Tennessean, 24 Oct. 2025
Some data types can be encrypted randomly, obfuscating enough of the data to stymie hackers—such as using only the last four digits of your credit to confirm your purchase identity.
—Srinivas Shekar, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Matthew Kelly
april 6, Kansas City Star, 6 Apr. 2026
The renderings, which showed an imposing new East Wing roughly a city block long, would be longer than the West Wing and almost completely obfuscating the view of the Treasury Building from the White House's South Lawn.
—Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today, 26 Feb. 2026
Lawyers for the group contend that the city is willfully obfuscating to cover up its inadequate efforts to live up to its settlement.
—Los Angeles Times, 16 Jan. 2026
The state says the foundation did this because Aerial Recovery, the nonprofit, had been obfuscating its name.
—Evan Mealins, Nashville Tennessean, 24 Oct. 2025
Some data types can be encrypted randomly, obfuscating enough of the data to stymie hackers—such as using only the last four digits of your credit to confirm your purchase identity.
—Srinivas Shekar, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for obfuscating
Verb
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Winners are chosen by a mix of votes from the two, translated into points by a system confusing even to Eurovision fans.—
Jill Lawless,
Chicago Tribune,
16 May 2026
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Clients hiring us for AI narrative work are under investor pressure to move fast, and the cost of confusing speed with substance will show up on their balance sheets.—
Kathleen Lucente,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2026
Verb
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Through Kongo’s intervention, the Cullinan evolves from luxury SUV into collectible contemporary artwork, blurring the boundaries between automotive craftsmanship, design and fine art.—
Matthew MacConnell,
Forbes.com,
18 May 2026
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Its subtly blurring and hydrating formula results in a smooth and non-cakey finish.—
Izzy Baskette,
PEOPLE,
15 May 2026
Verb
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Assets worth at least $1 million — which includes the vast majority of real estate in San Francisco — are also grouped together, further muddying the picture.—
Alyce McFadden,
San Francisco Chronicle,
2 Apr. 2026
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Also muddying the outlook for an end to the crisis is uncertainty about what the United States is trying to achieve.—
Paul Wiseman,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Obfuscating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/obfuscating. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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