What does "obliterate" mean?
To destroy (someone or something) completely, leaving no trace; to annihilate, to wipe out.
Obliterate
/əˈblɪtəɹeɪt/ adj, verb
adj, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: To destroy (someone or something) completely, leaving no trace; to annihilate, to wipe out.
- Grammar: obliterate is listed as adj, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: wipe out, abolish, abrogate, absolve.
- Useful contrasts: catalan painting today, graven, blazons.
- Usage evidence: This threatens to obliterate all the progress we have made over the years.
How to use "obliterate"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "obliterate" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "obliterate" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "obliterate" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "obliterate" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "obliterate" is acting as adj, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "wipe out" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "obliterate", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Verb
- 1 To destroy (someone or something) completely, leaving no trace; to annihilate, to wipe out. transitive
"[H]e [Pope Gregory I] deſigned to obliterate and extinguiſh the memorie of Heathen antiquitie and Authors."
- 2 remove completely from recognition or memory wordnet
- 3 To hide (something) by covering it; to conceal, to obscure. transitive
"The rainclouds obliterated the sun as they swept across the sky."
- 4 make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or concealing wordnet
- 5 To make (a drawing, text which is printed or written, etc.) indecipherable, either by erasing or obscuring it; to blot out, to efface, to delete. also, figuratively, transitive
"The Senate approuing all that vvas done, decreed that his name ſhould bee obliterated out of all monuments in Rome, and neuer any Antoninus (a name before very gratious) ſhould rule againe their Empire: ſo odious vvas the remembrance of this Image of Ignominy."
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 do away with completely, without leaving a trace wordnet
- 7 To impair the function and/or structure of (a body cavity, vessel, etc.) by ablating or occluding it (in the latter case, chiefly by filling it with tissue). transitive
"In the developing embryo the foregut is surrounded by a group of vascular structures of bilateral distribution connected with the branchial arches. Portions of these arches are obliterated to form the normally described aorta and great vessels. The ultimate persistence of only one main vascular arch, the left, as the aorta, permits the trachea and oesophagus to lie freely to its right side."
- 8 mark for deletion, rub off, or erase wordnet
- 9 To cancel (a postage stamp) with a postmark so it cannot be reused. transitive
- 10 To be destroyed completely, leaving no trace. intransitive
- 11 Of a body cavity, vessel, etc.: to close up or fill with tissue; of perfusion or a pulse: to cease owing to obstruction. intransitive
"distal pulses obliterate until perfusion is restored"
Adjective
- 1 Completely destroyed or erased; effaced, obliterated. obsolete
"[G]o to the herald's office, […] and thou shalt find in that office as many records of attainted families, and escheated families, and impoverished and forgotten, and obliterate families, as of families newly erected and presently celebrated."
- 2 Of markings on an insect: difficult to distinguish from the background; faint, indistinct. obsolete, rare
Adjective
- 1 reduced to nothingness wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"This threatens to obliterate all the progress we have made over the years."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "obliterate"?
Common synonyms include: wipe out, abolish, abrogate, absolve, annihilate, annihilated.
How do you use "obliterate" in a sentence?
This threatens to obliterate all the progress we have made over the years.
How do you pronounce "obliterate"?
Pronounced /əˈblɪtəɹeɪt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
PIE word *h₁epi (start of 17th century) From earlier obliterat, learned borrowing from Latin obliterātus, oblitterātus (“having been blotted out, effaced, erased; having been forgotten”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix, of participial origin)). Obliterātus and oblitterātus are respectively the perfect passive participles of obliterō and oblitterō (“to blot out, efface, erase, obliterate; to cause to be forgotten”), probably either: * from ob- (prefix meaning ‘against; towards’) + littera (“letter of the alphabet; (metonymically) handwriting”) (further etymology unknown); or * from oblītus (“disregarded, neglected; forgotten”), influenced by littera. Oblītus is the perfect passive participle of oblinō (“to daub over, besmear”), from ob- + possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ- (“not heavy, light; brief; swift”). Cognates * Catalan obliterar (“to erase; to cancel (a stamp); to close up or fill (a body cavity, vessel, etc.)”) * Middle French oblitérer (modern French oblitérer (“to cause (memories) to fade; to block, obstruct; to cancel (a stamp, ticket, etc.) so it cannot be reused”)) * Portuguese obliterar (“to destroy completely; to erase”) * Spanish obliterar (“to destroy completely; to erase”)
Etymology 2
Learned borrowing from Latin obliterātus (see more at Etymology 1 and -ate (adjective-forming suffix, of participial origin)).