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• obnubilate •

Pronunciation: ahb-n(y)u-bê-lêt • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: 1. Cloudy, foggy, fuzzy, hazy. 2. Murky, obscure, vague, nebulous, inexplicit.

Notes: Today's word has a rich and happy family. There is the verb, also spelled obnubilate, but pronounced slightly differently [ahb-n(y)u-bê-layt], and a process noun, obnubilation. Obnubilate also has a sister adjective, obnubilous, with the same meaning, although it tends to be preferred when referring to physical clouds or fog.

In Play: There are so many English words with the literal and figurative meaning "murky" (see Meaning above) that we hardly need another. But this is a good word to use when you just want to show off your vocabulary: "His arguments are so obnubilate as to frustrate even the most meticulous attempts to penetrate them." Keep in mind this Good Word's good family, too: "Don't obnubilate the discussion with facts, Percival."

Word History: Today's word comes from the past participle of Latin obnubilare "to darken, obscure" from ob "before, in front of" + nubilare "to be cloudy or overcast." The stem of this word is the adjective nubilus "cloudy"—also in use in English as nubilous "cloudy; vague, unclear" from nubes "cloud". It is apparently related to German Nebel "fog", Sanskrit nabhas "fog", and Russian nebo "sky", though exactly how the and the metathesized is itself a bit obnubilate. Latin also has the word nebula "cloud, fog" without the switch of the rounded vowel [o, u] with the unrounded one [I, e].

Oh I quite like this word. There are days when I'm so preoccupied with necessary things that "foggy" just doesn't do the state of my brain justice. I once had a sister-in-law who was lovely but a bit ditzy, and her name was Nubia. Do you suppose her parents had foreknowledge of her personality when they named her?

When I was teaching there were always a few in the room
who had their heads in the clouds. I wish I had this word
available back then.

Would it be possible that you were an obnubilator (-er?), if that's the correct way of saying 'one who enabled their condition' with your teaching methods? Surely not!

Saints forbid. A hundred lashes with a wet noodle for your
thinking that.

Mea culpa

I knew the wet noodles would get you to think differently.

You're right, it was the noodles; I'm gluten intolerant, so pasta is verboten in my life. The repercussions are grim. You really know how to get to a person. . .

I'll keep this word in mind next time a friend of mine makes mention of his local paper, the San Jose (California) Mercury News, which he tends to call the "Murky News."

The local rag is The World Herald, which I dub
the Weird Herald.

In describing the usages of “obnubilate,” Dr. Goodword observed that “There are so many English words with the literal and figurative meaning "murky" (see Meaning above) that we hardly need another.” True indeed. But there is so much in this world that is dark and inexplicit that it is no surprise we use so many words to deal with such matters.

I just read one of the most grisly puns on the various words which mean “murky”:

The state of Georgia this week executed Kelly Gissendaner for procuring the murder of her husband. (The actual knife wielder was given a sentence making him eligible for parole in 25 years.) Ms. Gissendaner’s execution was originally scheduled for March but her execution was “chaotically delayed” at the last minute because the lethal injection chemical had become “cloudy,” and was judged “too risky.” The sourcing of such lethal injection chemicals is controversial (reputable drug companies refuse to supply them), and Georgia officials refuse to disclose the vendor, the details of the execution or why the drug intended for the March execution date spoiled. The Economist grimly rebuked the Georgia officials with this arresting sentence:

“As a result, why the drugs meant to kill Ms Gissendaner turned cloudy is also opaque.”

http://www.economist.com/news/united-st ... -cruel-and

GOOD one! Astute editor.