obfuscate

From Middle French obfusquer, from Old French offusquer, and the participle stem of Late Latin obfuscō, from Latin ob- + fuscō (“to darken”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɒbfəskeɪt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɑbfəskeɪt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

obfuscate (third-person singular simple present obfuscates, present participle obfuscating, simple past and past participle obfuscated)

1. To make dark; to overshadow.
2. To deliberately make more confusing in order to conceal the truth.

   obfuscate facts

   Can weakness be really obfuscated?

   Before leaving the scene, the murderer set a fire in order to obfuscate any evidence of his identity.

   • 2018 February 13, Anonymous White House Official, “White House reels as FBI director contradicts official claims about alleged abuser”, in Washington Post:

     When asked if Kelly could have been more transparent or truthful, that official wrote: “In this White House, it’s simply not in our DNA. Truthful and transparent is great, but we don’t even have a coherent strategy to obfuscate.”

3. (computing) To alter code while preserving its behavior but concealing its structure and intent.

   We need to obfuscate these classes before we ship the final release.

• (to make dark): darken, eclipse, overshadow
• (to deliberately make more confusing): confuse, muddle, obscure

• (antonym(s) of “to deliberately make less confusing”): explain, simplify

• obfuscatable
• unobfuscatable

• obfuscation
• obfuscatory
• obfuscous

obfuscate (comparative more obfuscate, superlative most obfuscate)

1. (obsolete) Obfuscated; darkened; obscured.
   • 1531, Thomas Elyot, edited by Ernest Rhys, The Boke Named the Governour  (Everyman’s Library), London: J M Dent & Co; New York, N.Y.: E P Dutton & Co, published , →OCLC:

     Also the vertues beynge in a cruell persone be nat only obfuscate or hyd : But also lyke wyse as norysshynge meates and drynkes in an sycke body