a social policy or racial segregation involving political and economic and legal discrimination against people who are not Whites; the former official policy in South Africa
difficult to penetrate; incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding or knowledge; "the professor's lectures were so abstruse that students tended to avoid them"; "a deep metaphysical theory"; "some recondite problem in historiography"
harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance; "a dour, self-sacrificing life"; "a forbidding scowl"; "a grim man loving duty more than humanity"; "undoubtedly the grimmest part of him was his iron claw"- J.M.Barrie
not clearly understood or expressed; "an obscure turn of phrase"; "an impulse to go off and fight certain obscure battles of his own spirit"-Anatole Broyard; "their descriptions of human behavior become vague, dull, and unclear"- P.A.Sorokin; "vague...forms of speech...have so long passed for mysteries of science"- John Locke
not drawing attention; "an unnoticeable cigarette burn on the carpet"; "an obscure flaw"
not famous or acclaimed; "an obscure family"; "unsung heroes of the war"
make obscure or unclear; "The distinction was obscured"
make difficult to perceive by sight; "The foliage of the huge tree obscures the view of the lake"
make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or concealing; "a hidden message"; "a veiled threat"
make less visible or unclear; "The stars are obscured by the clouds"