obfuscate

verb

1 the debate all too often obfuscates the issue:

obscure, confuse, make obscure/unclear, blur, muddle, jumble, complicate, garble, muddy, cloud, befog;

muddy the waters.

▷antonyms clarify.

2 it is more likely to obfuscate people than enlighten them:

bewilder, mystify, puzzle, perplex, baffle, confound, bemuse, befuddle, nonplus;

informal flummox;

archaic wilder, maze, gravel.