English▸ verb [with object] make obscure, unclear, or unintelligible:
the spelling changes will deform some familiar words and obfuscate their etymological origins.
▪ bewilder (someone):
the new rule is more likely to obfuscate people than enlighten them.
– ORIGIN late Middle English (as adjective): from late Latin obfuscat- ‘darkened’, from the verb obfuscare, based on Latin fuscus ‘dark’.