obscurantist

Obscurantist is a noun and adjective describing a person who deliberately impedes the dissemination or comprehension of information. The term derives from obscurantisme in French, obscurantist, from Latin obscurare to darken. In common usage, an obscurantist is someone who prefers or advocates secrecy, complexity, or vagueness to hinder public understanding, often to protect a particular interest, authority, or worldview.

In politics and governance, obscurantism refers to practices that reduce transparency, restrict access to data, redact information, or use opaque language to avoid scrutiny. In religion, philosophy, or academia, the label may be applied to arguments that rely on technical jargon, disputed authorities, or appeals to mystery to prevent critical examination.

Critics describe obscurantism as anti-democratic or epistemically irresponsible, arguing that it undermines informed citizenry, scientific progress, and accountability. Defenders may frame opacity as necessary for security, privacy, or methodological complexity, though the label obscurantist is typically used pejoratively.

Related concepts include censorship, secrecy, opacity, and propaganda, as well as the broader idea of epistemic opacity—the inability of stakeholders to access or verify information. The term is most often used in criticism and polemics rather than as a neutral analytic category, and its exact meaning can vary with context.

See also: censorship, transparency, information suppression, rhetoric, epistemology.