obfuscating

verb

present participle of obfuscate
as in confusing
to make (something) unclear to the understanding irrelevant matters that only serve to obfuscate the fundamental issue of guilt or innocence

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of obfuscating The situation has sparked backlash from lawmakers, who say the administration is obfuscating the casualty count and is trying to skirt the 60-day limit on military action without congressional authorization by rebranding the war. — Steven Beynon, ABC News, 24 July 2026 The political committee is also the subject of a recent Federal Election Commission complaint accusing it of obfuscating its expenses in violation of federal election rules. — Claire Heddles, Miami Herald, 2 July 2026 When The Star requested records related to ATO being placed on probation last year, the outcome letter KU provided was heavily redacted, completely obfuscating the narrative of the hazing allegations that university investigators found to be credible. — Matthew Kelly april 6, Kansas City Star, 6 Apr. 2026 The renderings, which showed an imposing new East Wing roughly a city block long, would be longer than the West Wing and almost completely obfuscating the view of the Treasury Building from the White House's South Lawn. — Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today, 26 Feb. 2026 Lawyers for the group contend that the city is willfully obfuscating to cover up its inadequate efforts to live up to its settlement. — Los Angeles Times, 16 Jan. 2026 The state says the foundation did this because Aerial Recovery, the nonprofit, had been obfuscating its name. — Evan Mealins, Nashville Tennessean, 24 Oct. 2025 Some data types can be encrypted randomly, obfuscating enough of the data to stymie hackers—such as using only the last four digits of your credit to confirm your purchase identity. — Srinivas Shekar, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for obfuscating
  1. confusing
  2. blurring
  3. muddying
Verb
  • Physicians are alarmed, stressing that FDA licensing is crucial for guiding patients, as this decision risks confusing consumers about regulated versus unregulated treatments.
    — Joshua P. Cohen, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
  • The Seahawks and Eagles won Super Bowls by confusing teams from multiple alignments.
    — Paul Dehner Jr, New York Times, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of confusing
Verb
  • Deepfakes and synthetic media are blurring reality, challenging identity verification and requiring continuous authentication.
    — Chuck Brooks, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026
  • The video shows several people standing on the left side, with the transit agency blurring their faces to not completely shame them.
    — Mike Stunson, USA Today, 29 July 2026
Definition of blurring
Verb
  • In essence, the excellent second season is dedicated to muddying the myth of heroes and villains, in that heroes don’t have to put themselves above anyone in order to lead.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 2 Aug. 2026
  • Bird baths should be placed at least 10 to 15 feet away from nearby feeders to keep bird seed and other debris from muddying up the water.
    — Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 July 2026
Definition of muddying

Browse Nearby Words

obfuscates
obfuscating
obfuscatory
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Cite this Entry

“Obfuscating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/obfuscating. Accessed 6 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on obfuscating

Nglish: Translation of obfuscating for Spanish Speakers

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