obfuscation
/ˌɒbfəˈskeɪʃn/ (bre, ipa) · /ˌɑːbfəˈskeɪʃn/ (ame, ipa) · /ˌäb(ˌ)fəˈskāshən/ (ame, mw)
obfuscation — 名詞
- obfuscationsingular
- obfuscationsplural
1. the deliberate use of vague or confusing language to keep readers, listeners, or
刻意含糊
故意把話講得模糊讓人聽不懂
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.
部長的回答純粹是刻意含糊，對於 Sofia 詢問醫院候診時間的問題完全沒有給出明確答覆。
pure obfuscation as evasive reply
Quinn left the press conference annoyed by the obfuscation around the city's missing budget.
Quinn 離開記者會時，對於市府預算缺口被刻意含糊帶過這件事感到很惱火。
obfuscation around [topic]
Vikram accused the company lawyers of obfuscation during the long pollution hearing.
Vikram 在那場冗長的污染聽證會上，指控公司律師故意把事情講得含糊不清。
There was so much obfuscation in the report that even the auditors struggled to follow the numbers.
那份報告含糊不清的地方太多，連稽核人員都很難看懂裡面的數字。
Behind the manager's polite words lay a careful obfuscation of who had actually approved the bad loan.
經理客氣的話語背後，其實是在小心掩飾到底是誰核准了那筆有問題的貸款。
- 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
隱私混淆
送出假資料讓追蹤者抓不到真實行為
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.
Quan 安裝了一款隱私混淆工具，靠大量假點擊把他真實的瀏覽習慣藏起來，讓廣告網路抓不到。
obfuscation tool for hiding browsing habits
Some browsers offer obfuscation as a privacy setting, so trackers receive misleading search terms.
有些瀏覽器把隱私混淆做成內建選項，讓追蹤程式收到的都是誤導性的搜尋詞。
obfuscation as a privacy setting
Cyrus turned on the browser's obfuscation feature before searching for medical clinics in his city.
Cyrus 在搜尋他所在城市的醫療診所之前，先打開了瀏覽器的隱私混淆功能。
The app uses obfuscation to mix Élise's real location with dozens of fake ones every minute.
這款 app 利用隱私混淆，每分鐘把 Élise 真實的位置和幾十個假位置混在一起送出。
- 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
程式碼混淆
把程式碼改寫成難讀但仍可執行
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.
Takeshi 在發布前對手機 app 做了程式碼混淆，這樣對手工作室就沒辦法輕易偷走遊戲邏輯。
applying obfuscation to mobile app code
Heavy obfuscation made the JavaScript file impossible for Ilan to read, even though it still ran perfectly.
重度的程式碼混淆讓那個 JavaScript 檔對 Ilan 來說根本讀不懂，但檔案執行起來完全正常。
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.
銀行類 app 常常靠程式碼混淆，讓想研究登入畫面運作方式的攻擊者寸步難行。
When Erik joined the security firm, his first task was to add obfuscation to the new payment library.
Erik 進入那家資安公司後，第一個任務就是替新的金流程式庫加上程式碼混淆。
- 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).