obscure vs whitewash

obscure

verb
  • To render obscure; to darken; to make dim; to keep in the dark; to hide; to make less visible, intelligible, legible, glorious, beautiful, or illustrious. 

  • To hide, put out of sight etc. 

adj
  • Dark, faint or indistinct. 

  • Difficult to understand. 

  • Not well-known. 

  • Hidden, out of sight or inconspicuous. 

  • Unknown or uncertain; unclear. 

whitewash

verb
  • To make over (a person or character, a group, an event, etc) so that it is or seems more white, for example by applying makeup to a person, or by discounting the participation of people of color in an event and focusing on only white participation. 

  • To cover over errors or bad actions. 

  • In various games, to defeat (an opponent) so that they fail to score, or to reach a certain point in the game; to skunk. 

  • To paint over with a lime and water mixture so as to brighten up a wall or fence. 

noun
  • The most basic type of thickening agent, flour blended with water to make a paste. 

  • A lime and water mixture for painting walls and fences bright white. 

  • A complete victory or series of victories without suffering any losses; a clean sweep. 

  • A campaign to paper over unfavorable elements. 

How often have the words obscure and whitewash occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )