# opaque

> English word · Adjective · IPA /əʊˈpeɪk/ · frequency rank #17,914

## Definitions
1. Neither reflecting nor emitting light.
2. Allowing little light to pass through, not translucent or transparent.
3. Unclear, unintelligible, hard to get or explain the meaning of.
4. Obtuse, stupid.
5. Describes a type for which higher-level callers have no knowledge of data values or their representations; all operations are carried out by the type's defined abstract operators.

## Etymology
From Middle English opake, from Latin opacus (“shaded, shady, dark”) (of unknown origin), later reinforced from Middle French opaque. Doublet of ubac.

## Common misspellings (7)
`oapque`, `opaqeu`, `opaqque`, `opauqe`, `oppaque`, `opqaue`, `poaque`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/opaque