obscurantism

[Dave Monroe]

A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

obscurantism

PRONUNCIATION:
(uhb-SKYOOR-uhn-tiz-uhm, ob-skyoo-RAN-tiz-uhm)

MEANING:
noun:
1. Opposition to the spread of knowledge.
2. Being deliberately vague or obscure; also a style in art and literature.

ETYMOLOGY:
>From Latin obscurare (to make dark).

USAGE:
"Jeane Kirkpatrick possessed the rare gift of being able to write
subtle and challenging studies of international politics and to
formulate strikingly simple and apt phrases to cut through
obscurantism and cant."
Joseph P. Duggan; Jeane Kirkpatrick Set a Very High Bar; St. Louis
Post-Dispatch (Missouri); Dec 18, 200

http://wordsmith.org/words/obscurantism.html