obscurantism
noun
obscurantism is spelled O-B-S-C-U-R-A-N-T-I-S-M: 12 letters. It appears about once in every 22 million words in written English, the 141,699th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, obscurantism means “A state of opposition to human progress or enlightenment” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of obscurantism is obscurantisms.
How many letters and syllables are in obscurantism?
| Letters | 12: O-B-S-C-U-R-A-N-T-I-S-M |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 22 million words; the 141,699th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is obscurantism?
Obscurantism appears about once in every 22 million words in written English, the 141,699th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce obscurantism?
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-obscurantism.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of obscurantism
- obscurantisms plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does obscurantism mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A state of opposition to human progress or enlightenment.
- 2
Deliberate obscurity or vagueness.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Obscurantism in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | obscurantisme |
| Portuguese | obscurantismo |
| German | Obskurantismus |
| Spanish | oscurantismo, obscurantismo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does obscurantism come from?
From Latin obscūrans, from obscūrō (“to cover, darken, obscure”) + -ism.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).