1536 Act 28 Hen. VIII c. 10 The..usurped auctorite of..the pope..which did obfuscate and wrest goddes holy word.

1577 S. Patrick tr. I. Gentillet Disc. Wel Governing (1602) 33 Love of ones selfe obfuscateth and blindeth judgement.

1604 J. Hind Lysimachus & Varrona 50 Now I see, but alas too late,..that the fowlest skin is couered with faire paintings, that vice lieth obfuscated in the cinders of honest simplicitie.

1628 W. Prynne Vnlouelinesse of Louelockes 53 Ecclipsing, obfuscating, and deprauing that naturall and liuely Beauty.

1660 G. Mackenzie Aretina iii. 232 Whatever was the reason which did instigate this wise Prince to this, certain it is, that this obfuscated much the resplendent rays of Honour and Nobility.

1702 L. Echard Gen. Eccl. Hist. iii. ii. 317 To obfuscate the Brightness of the Gospel.

1761 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy III. xix. 82 His head like a smoak-jack;—the funnel unswept, and the ideas whirling round and round about in it, all obfuscated and darkened over with fuliginous matter!

1814 W. Scott Waverley I. xiv. 146 The daughters of the house of Bradwardine were, in his opinion..placed high above the clouds of passion which might obfuscate the intellects of meaner females. View more context for this quotation

1915 P. Geddes Cities in Evol. ii. 74 The material alternatives of real economics, which these obsessions of money economics have been too long obfuscating, are broadly two.

1990 Illustr. London News Summer 93/2 Though the impact of the music is powerful, that of the drama is obfuscated by the waywardness of Pierre Audi's production.

1588 J. Aske Elizabetha Triumphans 24 Within a space could be discern'd so thicke This raysed dust obfuscated the light.

1650 Earl of Monmouth tr. J. F. Senault Man become Guilty 336 [That] a constellation which was in all things inferiour to the Sun, should obfuscate his beauties.

1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Garden A Garden should not be obfuscated or darkened.

1734 Philos. Trans. 1733–4 (Royal Soc.) 38 255 Atmospheres..so dense..as may suffice to obfuscate..the Light of the Star.

a1834 C. Lamb In re Squirrels in Misc. Wks. (1912) 359 Rather more obfuscated than your fruit of Seville.

1840 T. C. Haliburton Let. Bag Great Western (U.K. ed.) xx. 222 The damp and moist exhalations evolved by water..obliterates from the slates all traces of distinctness..and before calculations are terminated, the primary part is obfuscated by the occultations of steam.

1910 E. M. Forster Howards End xxiii If Drayton were with us again to write a new edition of his incomparable poem, he would sing the nymphs of Hertfordshire as indeterminate of feature, with hair obfuscated by the London smoke.

1993 C. A. Duffy Other Country 36 Through the high window of the hall clouds obfuscate the sun.

1656 [implied in: W. Coles Art of Simpling xxxii. 115 If his sight be obfuscated and dull. (at obfuscated adj. 1)].

1858 T. Ward Flora iii. 53 (Affecting to weep.) Fortuitous, yet touching genealogical dénouement! Verily, my vision is humidly obfuscated.

1933 Econ. Jrnl. 43 488 Some things he sees very clearly. His vision is not obfuscated by the mists with which authority and tradition surround the practices they sanction.

1729 G. Berkeley in Wks. (1871) IV. 632 Curb..every passion, each whereof inebriates and obfuscates no less than drink or meat.

1840 R. H. Barham Bagman's Dog in Ingoldsby Legends 1st Ser. 321 And now, my good friends, I've a fine opportunity To obfuscate you all by sea terms with impunity.

1893 H. Vizetelly Glances Back I. xii. 239 He was obfuscated with brandy and water.

1926 D. L. Sayers Clouds of Witness x. 196 I arrange to obfuscate the jury with mysterious footprints.

2000 Wicked Fall 24/2 The idea was to confuse and obfuscate the viewer as much as possible and still play with horror genre conventions.

1878 Catholic World Apr. 94/1 He muffles himself in transcendentalism, but fails to hide his clear sense, which he cannot entirely bury or obfuscate.

1913 E. Pound Serious Artist in New Freewoman I. 15 Oct. 163/2 The unserious artist being the commoner brand and greatly outnumbering the serious variety..it is natural that the unserious artist should do all in his power to obfuscate the lines of demarcation.

1987 R. Manning Corridor of Mirrors xv. 160 This book has been praised for its honesty, but..much was omitted from it. Details altered or obfuscated.

1992 Judicature Dec. 197/2 The organization was not obfuscating the Union's role in the campaign.

1909 J. London in Harper's Mag. July 233/1 He, along with his four companions, had lied and blocked and obfuscated in their statements to the court.

1933 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 38 615 In many cases insanely nonsensical ‘exhibits’ [were] submitted in evidence in the effort to obfuscate and to perplex.

1978 C. P. Snow Realists vii. 200 No good writer could write so deplorably, or obfuscate so clumsily, unless he had something to cover up.