Word of the Week: obfuscate (ŎB-fǝ-skāt) Definition (Verb) To cast into darkness or shadow; to cloud, obscure. In Context “By trying to expand their opposition into a national, rather than a sectional, battle, southern senators hoped to obfuscate the true issue at stake in the debate – the inherent inequality and repression of the system of white supremacy that they championed.” Keith M. Finley, Delaying the Dream: Southern Senators and the Fight Against Civil Rights, 1938-1965, 2008.