obfuscating
Making deliberately unclear
Obfuscating is making something unclear or difficult to understand, often deliberately.
Code can be obfuscated to prevent reverse engineering; language can be obfuscated to avoid accountability: The politician's obfuscating response left reporters more confused than before.
The word implies intention—you obfuscate to hide something, not by accident.
Staying out of sight
- maskingConcealing by covering
- veilingConcealing with covering
- shroudingCovering to conceal
- cloakingAct of hiding something
obscuring · camouflaging · screening · burying · covering · disguising · blanketing · shadowing
Avoiding by moving aside
- sidesteppingMoving aside to avoid
- deflectingTurning from original path
- circumventingAvoiding by going around
- hedgingNoncommittal maneuvering
stonewalling · noncommittal · vague · ambiguous · elusive · cagey · unforthcoming · indirect
Causing utter confusion
- mystifyingCausing complete confusion
- perplexingCausing mental confusion
- bafflingImpossible to understand
- befuddlingCausing mental confusion
muddling · confounding · puzzling · bamboozling · flummoxing · discombobulating · addling · disorienting
Causing false beliefs
- misdirectingGuiding toward wrong target
- dissemblingConcealing true motives
- equivocatingSpeaking with deliberate ambiguity
- prevaricatingAvoiding direct honesty
dissimulating · disinforming · distorting · misrepresenting · falsifying · fabricating · spinning · duplicitous
Scrambling data for secrecy
- encodingConverting data to format
- hashingOne-way data transformation
- cryptographyScience of secure messaging
- ciphertextEncoded, unreadable message
minifying · compiling · abstracting · layering · nesting · aliasing · indirection · proprietary
hiding
Staying out of sight
cloaking · obscuring · camouflaging · screening · burying · covering · disguising · blanketing · shadowing · clouding
dodging
Avoiding by moving aside
- sidesteppingMoving aside to avoid
- deflectingTurning from original path
- circumventingAvoiding by going around
hedging · stonewalling · noncommittal · vague · ambiguous · elusive · cagey · unforthcoming · indirect · eluding
bewildering
Causing utter confusion
- mystifyingCausing complete confusion
- perplexingCausing mental confusion
- bafflingImpossible to understand
befuddling · muddling · confounding · puzzling · bamboozling · flummoxing · discombobulating · addling · disorienting · stupefying
misleading
Causing false beliefs
- misdirectingGuiding toward wrong target
- dissemblingConcealing true motives
- equivocatingSpeaking with deliberate ambiguity
prevaricating · dissimulating · disinforming · distorting · misrepresenting · falsifying · fabricating · spinning · duplicitous · disingenuous
encrypting
Scrambling data for secrecy
- encodingConverting data to format
- hashingOne-way data transformation
- cryptographyScience of secure messaging
ciphertext · minifying · compiling · abstracting · layering · nesting · aliasing · indirection · proprietary
- deceptionlie, lies, lying, fake, fraud
- confusing actionsmisleading, misdirecting, muddling, garbling, scrambling
- evasionevasion, avoiding, avoids, evade, dodging
obfuscatingclarifying
Making something understandable
explaining · elucidating · simplifying · spelling out · explicating
obfuscatingrevealing
Making known what's hidden
disclosing · exposing · uncovering · laying bare · coming clean
obfuscatingenlightening
Providing new understanding
illuminating · educating · informing · edifying · instructing