obfuscation
/ˌɒbfəˈskeɪʃn/ (bre, ipa) · /ˌɑːbfəˈskeɪʃn/ (ame, ipa) · /ˌäb(ˌ)fəˈskāshən/ (ame, mw)
obfuscation — noun
- obfuscationsingular
- obfuscationsplural
1. the deliberate use of vague or confusing language to keep readers, listeners, or
the deliberate use of vague or confusing language to keep readers, listeners, or investigators from understanding the real facts of a situation.
The minister's reply was pure obfuscation, with no clear answer to Sofia's question about hospital waiting times.
pure obfuscation as evasive reply
Quinn left the press conference annoyed by the obfuscation around the city's missing budget.
obfuscation around [topic]
Vikram accused the company lawyers of obfuscation during the long pollution hearing.
There was so much obfuscation in the report that even the auditors struggled to follow the numbers.
Behind the manager's polite words lay a careful obfuscation of who had actually approved the bad loan.
- evasion
narrower — focuses on dodging a question rather than confusing the listener overall
- obscurantism
more academic; often about a whole style or movement, not one statement
- mystification
can be neutral or even playful; 'obfuscation' is always negative
- doublespeak
informal; specifically twisting words so the meaning seems opposite
- clarification
the deliberate opposite — making something easier to understand
- transparency
broader; describes a whole policy of openness, not a single statement
文法句型
obfuscation of [topic]
deliberate obfuscation
用法筆記
Subject is typically a speaker, writer, or institution trying to dodge scrutiny; the word carries a clear negative tone, so it is not used for honest simplification.
常見錯誤
2. a privacy method where a user's computer sends out fake or misleading informatio
a privacy method where a user's computer sends out fake or misleading information online so that search engines and advertisers cannot build an accurate profile of the person.
Quan installed an obfuscation tool that flooded ad networks with fake clicks to hide his real browsing habits.
obfuscation tool for hiding browsing habits
Some browsers offer obfuscation as a privacy setting, so trackers receive misleading search terms.
obfuscation as a privacy setting
Cyrus turned on the browser's obfuscation feature before searching for medical clinics in his city.
The app uses obfuscation to mix Élise's real location with dozens of fake ones every minute.
- data masking
narrower — usually about replacing real values inside a database, not flooding the web with noise
- noise injection
technical synonym used in research papers; same idea of adding fake data
- tracking
the activity that obfuscation is designed to defeat
文法句型
data obfuscation
obfuscation tool/software
用法筆記
Almost always uncountable in this sense; collocates with privacy-related nouns (tool, software, technique, layer). Distinguish from sense 1: this is a concrete technical practice, not a way of speaking.
常見錯誤
3. the practice of rewriting computer programs in a tangled, unreadable form so tha
the practice of rewriting computer programs in a tangled, unreadable form so that other programmers cannot easily copy or study them, while the program still runs the same way.
Takeshi applied obfuscation to the mobile app before release so that rival studios could not steal the game logic.
applying obfuscation to mobile app code
Heavy obfuscation made the JavaScript file impossible for Ilan to read, even though it still ran perfectly.
obfuscation hides code but keeps function
Banking apps often rely on obfuscation to slow down attackers who try to study how the login screen works.
When Erik joined the security firm, his first task was to add obfuscation to the new payment library.
- minification
shares the side effect of shortening code, but the main goal is speed, not hiding meaning
- encryption
stronger — encrypted code cannot run until decrypted, while obfuscated code still runs as normal
- decompilation
the reverse activity — turning compiled code back into something readable
文法句型
code obfuscation
obfuscation of [code/binary]
用法筆記
Always uncountable; nearly always collocates with 'code', 'binary', 'script', or a specific language (JavaScript, Android). Distinguish from sense 2 (which is about the user's outgoing data, not the program itself).