Obscurers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Agents that intentionally conceal or obscure clarity for others
2. Individuals or entities that hinder understanding by making information less visible or accessible
3. People or things that cause something to be unclear, hidden, or not easily understood

Etymology: "Obscurers" is the plural of "obscurer," which is simply the English noun formed by adding the suffix "-er" to "obscure." The suffix has a double life in this word: it can mean "more," as in comparatives like "greater," or it can mean "one who does something," as in "teacher." Both readings meet here, since an obscurer is someone or something that makes things more obscure. The suffix itself has a long pedigree. It descends from Proto-Germanic forms and passed through Old English and Middle English, while a parallel route came via Latin "-arius" and Old French "-ier," which also produced many agent nouns in English. The base word "obscure" comes from Latin "obscurus," meaning dark or dim, which is why the root idea of a word or thing that dims light lingers in the modern sense of making meaning hard to see.

Synonyms: hiders, mufflers

Antonyms: revealers, clarifiers