obliterate

verb

oblit·​er·​ate ə-ˈbli-tə-ˌrāt 

ō-

obliterated; obliterating

transitive verb

1

a

: to remove utterly from recognition or memory

… a successful love crowned all other successes and obliterated all other failures.

—J. W. Krutch

b

: to remove from existence : destroy utterly all trace, indication, or significance of

The tide eventually obliterated all evidence of our sandcastles.

c

medical : to cause (something, such as a bodily part, a scar, or a duct conveying body fluid) to disappear or collapse : remove sense 4

a blood vessel obliterated by inflammation

2

: to make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or wearing away

A dimness like a fog envelops consciousness / As mist obliterates a crag.

—Emily Dickinson

3

: cancel sense 2

obliterate a postage stamp

obliteration

ə-ˌbli-tə-ˈrā-shən 

ō-

noun

obliterator

ə-ˈbli-tə-ˌrā-tər 

ō-

noun

Did you know?

Obliterate has been preserved in our language for centuries, and that’s not nothing! The earliest evidence in our files traces obliterate back to the mid-16th century as a word for removing something from memory. Soon after, English speakers began to use it for the specific act of blotting out or obscuring anything written, and eventually its meaning was generalized to removing anything from existence. In the meantime, physicians began using obliterate for the surgical act of filling or closing up a vessel, cavity, or passage with tissue, which would then cause the bodily part to collapse or disappear. Today obliterate thrives in the English lexicon with the various senses it has acquired over the years, including its final stamp on the language: “to cancel (something, especially a postage stamp).”

Synonyms

• abolish
• annihilate
• black out
• blot out
• cancel
• clean (up)
• efface
• eradicate
• erase
• expunge
• exterminate
• extirpate
• liquidate
• root (out)
• rub out
• snuff (out)
• stamp (out)
• sweep (away)
• wipe out

Examples of obliterate in a Sentence

in a stroke, the March snowstorm obliterated our hopes for an early spring

Recent Examples on the Web

Your ordinary sense of self, too, while not obliterated or dissolved, will likely begin to lose its familiar anchors in space and time. —Oshan Jarow, Vox, 4 Nov. 2024

Think of it like nuclear energy, a tool that can simultaneously provide endless clean electricity or obliterate the globe depending on how it’s used. —Chadd Scott, Forbes, 3 Nov. 2024

On the south side of town tucked in the Blue Ridge Mountains, 15 homes were obliterated and 14 more were damaged. —Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 24 Oct. 2024

The storm obliterated vast parts of Florida, including the surrounding areas of Hunters Point like Anna Maria Island and Bradenton. —Rachel Ramirez, CNN, 12 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin oblīterātus, oblitterātus, past participle of oblīterāre, oblitterāre "to cause to be forgotten or fall into disuse, make disappear," from ob- "against, facing" + -līterāre, litterāre, verbal derivative of lītera, littera letter entry 1 — more at ob-

Note: The original meaning of oblīterāre was apparently "to wipe out letters, words, etc.," but this sense is not clearly attested in classical Latin. Attested senses appear to have been influenced by oblītus, past participle of oblīvīscī "to forget, put out of mind" (cf. oblivion).

First Known Use

1548, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

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Kids Definition

obliterate

verb

oblit·​er·​ate ə-ˈblit-ə-ˌrāt 

ō-

obliterated; obliterating

: to remove or destroy completely : wipe out

obliteration

-ˌblit-ə-ˈrā-shən 

noun

Medical Definition

obliterate

transitive verb

oblit·​er·​ate ə-ˈblit-ə-ˌrāt, ō- 

obliterated; obliterating

: to cause to disappear (as a bodily part or a scar) or collapse (as a duct conveying body fluid)

a blood vessel obliterated by inflammation

obliteration

-ˌblit-ə-ˈrā-shən 

noun