obscurancyn.
/ˈɒbskjᵿrənsi/, /əbˈskjuːrənsi/, U.S. /ɑbˈskjʊrənsi/, /əbˈskjʊrənsi/ rare.
= obscurantism n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > intellectual ignorance > [noun] > opposition to enlightenment
obscurantism1824
obscurancy1825
obscurism1841
ignorantism1850
obscuranticism1927
1825 Edinb. Rev. 42 479 The time will certainly come when that power [sc. Prussia] will repent that she ever sided with Barbarism, Obscurancy, and Despotism.
1940 Ess. & Stud. in Honor of Carleton Brown 238 It is made even harder by the occasional obscurancy of some of the poets themselves.
1970 Nature 1 Nov. 448/2 Throughout these early years, Nature offered its ‘leadership’ support against obscurancy and obstruction in high places.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1825