obscurantism

IPA/ˌɒbskjuˈræntɪzəm/
IPA/ɑːbˈskjʊrəntɪzəm/

obscurantism — noun

1. the policy or habit of actively stopping people from learning facts or gaining i

1.nounC1
Definition

the policy or habit of actively stopping people from learning facts or gaining information that they have a right to know

Example

The authoritarian government's obscurantism kept citizens in the dark about rising pollution levels for years.

collocation: government's obscurantism

Professor Tendai resigned, accusing the university of obscurantism in its research funding decisions.

subject: institutional body (university)

Common collocations
  • government obscurantism
  • corporate obscurantism
  • bureaucratic obscurantism
  • deliberate obscurantism
Synonyms
  • suppression

    broader term; can refer to suppressing dissent, speech, or information, not necessarily through secrecy

  • censorship

    more specific; involves official control of published or broadcast material by authorities

  • secrecy

    neutral term for keeping things confidential; lacks the negative connotation of deliberate obstruction

Antonyms
  • transparency

    opposite quality of openness and full disclosure

  • enlightenment

    the ideal of spreading knowledge and understanding, contrasted historically with obscurantism

Usage Note

Typically uncountable; refers to an ongoing policy or systemic practice rather than a single event. Often appears in political or institutional contexts, sometimes modified by "corporate" or "bureaucratic."

Common Mistakes

The government's obscurantism was to hide the report.
The government's obscurantism prevented the public from accessing the report.
obscurantism describes a practice, not a purpose or intention.

2. a particular action or event in which someone deliberately hides information or

2.nounC2
Definition

a particular action or event in which someone deliberately hides information or makes something unclear to prevent others from understanding it

Example

Zayd considered the redacted paragraphs a blatant obscurantism hiding budget details from the committee.

countable: an obscurantism

The council's refusal to release traffic data was an obscurantism that angered local residents.

Common collocations
  • a deliberate obscurantism
  • a blatant obscurantism
  • an act of obscurantism
Synonyms
  • cover-up

    more informal; typically refers to hiding wrongdoing or scandal rather than general knowledge

  • obfuscation

    focuses on making something unclear or confusing, not necessarily hiding it completely

  • blackout

    implies a complete suppression of information, often by official order

Antonyms
  • disclosure

    the act of making information known that was previously hidden

  • clarification

    making something clear and understandable, the opposite of obfuscation

Usage Note

Countable and less common than sense 1. Often follows an indefinite article ("an obscurantism") and is typically accompanied by a modifier specifying the method (e.g. "redacted paragraphs," "legal jargon").

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four terms deal with keeping information from people, but they differ in scope and connotation. Obscurantism specifically describes an active policy or practice of preventing others from gaining knowledge — it carries a strong negative judgment about the intent behind the information control. Censorship is narrower: it means official authorities review and block material before publication, often under legal or regulatory power. Suppression is broader and can refer to forcefully stopping dissent, protests, or news from spreading, not necessarily through secrecy. Secrecy is the most neutral term; it simply means something is kept confidential — a secret bank account or a surprise party is not obscurantism. In practice, a government might practice obscurantism by burying a dam-safety report in bureaucratic jargon, exercise censorship by cutting the report's most damning sentences, engage in suppression by arresting the journalist who tried to publish it, and maintain secrecy by keeping the final report locked in a drawer.

obscurantism ↗censorship ↗suppression ↗secrecy ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • policy of obscurantism
  • charge of obscurantism
  • accusation of obscurantism

Adverbs

Phrases

  • practice of obscurantism
  • form of obscurantism
  • culture of obscurantism

Prepositions

  • through obscurantism

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Obscurantism traces back to the Latin verb obscurare ('to darken' or 'to hide'), from obscurus ('dark, dim, hidden'). The word passed through French as obscurantisme during the 18th-century Enlightenment, when intellectuals used it to attack opponents who they believed actively resisted the spread of reason and scientific knowledge. The English form obscurantism appeared in the early 1800s. The related noun obscurant originally referred to a person who opposed enlightenment.

First known use

1834

1834, in the meaning defined at sense 1