Opaque: meaning, example and synonyms
Opaqueadj. Hard to understand or explain; also, not letting light pass through.
Example
The agency's rules were so opaque that even experienced lawyers disagreed about which applicants qualified for the subsidy.
- Part of speech
- adjective
- Synonyms
- obscure, unclear, impenetrable, murky
- Antonyms
- clear, lucid, transparent, intelligible
- Memory tip
- Opaque glass blocks light; opaque writing blocks meaning.
Opaque is in batch 20. Study it with the rest of the batch, then pass the batch quiz to learn it. No account needed; progress is saved on this device.
Check yourself: Opaque in context
The contract was so ______ that even the company's own attorneys disagreed about what several of its clauses required.
Answer: opaque. A text that even experts can't interpret is opaque. Multifarious (highly varied), importunate (persistently demanding) and contemptuous (scornful) don't fit.
Critics complained that the philosopher's prose was needlessly ______, burying simple ideas beneath jargon that few readers could penetrate.
Answer: opaque. Prose that hides ideas under impenetrable jargon is opaque. Importunate (persistently demanding), startling (surprising) and multifarious (highly varied) don't fit.