obscurantism
noun
ob·scu·ran·tism äb-ˈskyu̇r-ən-ˌti-zəm 
əb-;
ˌäb-skyu̇-ˈran-
1
: opposition to the spread of knowledge : a policy of withholding knowledge from the general public
2
a
: a style (as in literature or art) characterized by deliberate vagueness or abstruseness
b
: an act or instance of obscurantism
obscurantist
äb-ˈskyu̇r-ən-tist
noun or adjective əb-;
ˌäb-skyu̇-ˈran-tist
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web More troubling still, universities can get away with obscurantism and enforced ideological conformism because of their enormous power over labor markets. 
Joel Kotkin, National Review, 29 Mar. 2022 The history of its practice in Jerusalem presents a parade of eccentrics and fanatics, enlivened by obscurantism and riot. Dominic Green, WSJ, 17 Dec. 2021 Imbued with a sense of grandeur, France harks back to the Enlightenment to speak about fighting obscurantism in the world today and proffers its secular universalism as a model for modern societies. BostonGlobe.com, 23 Sep. 2021 Imbued with a sense of grandeur, France harks back to the Enlightenment to speak about fighting obscurantism in the world today and proffers its secular universalism as a model for modern societies. New York Times, 23 Sep. 2021 Your homework assignment: Look up this exciting word — obscurantism. Gary Gilson, Star Tribune, 26 Dec. 2020 The obscurantism isn’t confined to talking heads and detached national politicians, either. Tobias Hoonhout, National Review, 3 Sep. 2020 Peters seemed to others to be a genius at two things: mimicking the verbal pretentiousness and obscurantism of academic parlance and sweeping naïve young women off their feet by means of an alchemy that remained mysterious to everyone else. New York Times, 14 Feb. 2020 Some early reviewers of The Second Sleep, which was published in the U.K. at the start of September, gave the impression that Harris had issued a rather straightforward warning against the threat of religious obscurantism and fanaticism. John Wilson, National Review, 5 Dec. 2019 See More
Joel Kotkin, National Review, 29 Mar. 2022 The history of its practice in Jerusalem presents a parade of eccentrics and fanatics, enlivened by obscurantism and riot. Dominic Green, WSJ, 17 Dec. 2021 Imbued with a sense of grandeur, France harks back to the Enlightenment to speak about fighting obscurantism in the world today and proffers its secular universalism as a model for modern societies. BostonGlobe.com, 23 Sep. 2021 Imbued with a sense of grandeur, France harks back to the Enlightenment to speak about fighting obscurantism in the world today and proffers its secular universalism as a model for modern societies. New York Times, 23 Sep. 2021 Your homework assignment: Look up this exciting word — obscurantism. Gary Gilson, Star Tribune, 26 Dec. 2020 The obscurantism isn’t confined to talking heads and detached national politicians, either. Tobias Hoonhout, National Review, 3 Sep. 2020 Peters seemed to others to be a genius at two things: mimicking the verbal pretentiousness and obscurantism of academic parlance and sweeping naïve young women off their feet by means of an alchemy that remained mysterious to everyone else. New York Times, 14 Feb. 2020 Some early reviewers of The Second Sleep, which was published in the U.K. at the start of September, gave the impression that Harris had issued a rather straightforward warning against the threat of religious obscurantism and fanaticism. John Wilson, National Review, 5 Dec. 2019 See More Word History
Etymology
borrowed from German Obscurantismus or French obscurantisme, from Latin obscūrant-, obscūrans, present participle of obscūrāre "to darken, eclipse, conceal from knowledge" + German -ismus, French -isme -ism — more at obscure entry 2
First Known Use
1834, in the meaning defined at sense 1