oblivion

noun

obliv·​i·​on ə-ˈbli-vē-ən 

ō-,

ä-

1

: the fact or condition of not remembering : a state marked by lack of awareness or consciousness

seeking the oblivion of sleep

drank herself into oblivion

2

: the condition or state of being forgotten or unknown

contentedly accepted his political oblivion

… took the Huskers from oblivion to glory—and their two national championships …

—D. S. Looney

Did you know?

Oblivion and the River Lethe

Oblivion asks forgetfulness of us in both its meaning and etymology. The word’s Latin source, oblīvīscī, means “to forget; to put out of mind,” and since its 14th century adoption into English, oblivion has hewed close to meanings having to do with forgetting. The word has also long had an association with the River Lethe, which according to Greek myth flowed through the Underworld and caused anyone who drank its water to forget their past; 17th century poet John Milton wrote about “Lethe the River of Oblivion” in Paradise Lost. The adjective oblivious (“lacking remembrance, memory, or mindful attention”) followed oblivion a century later, but not into oblivion—both words have proved obdurate against the erosive currents of time.

Synonyms

• forgetfulness
• nirvana
• obliviousness

Examples of oblivion in a Sentence

The technology is destined for oblivion.

The names of the people who lived here long ago have faded into oblivion.

His theories have faded into scientific oblivion.

Her work was rescued from oblivion when it was rediscovered in the early 1900s.

After being awake for three days straight, he longed for the oblivion of sleep.

She drank herself into oblivion.

The little village was bulldozed into oblivion to make way for the airport.

Recent Examples on the Web

Promises her who knows what, seeing that she’s got to drink herself to oblivion constantly and choke down pills for her unendurable pain. —Yiyun Li, Harper's Magazine, 23 Sep. 2024

Pressly offers an antidote to this fearful existence, inviting readers to slip into oblivion: to recognize the freedom of being temporarily forgotten, and resist the forces that reduce them to what can be gleaned on the internet. —John Kaag, The Atlantic, 29 Oct. 2024

After Billy’s body passes into oblivion — which may, or may not, have been Mephisto’s doing — his soul basically attached itself to another random kid. —Adam B. Vary, Variety, 10 Oct. 2024

At best the main characters can battle these forces to a standstill and eke out one more day for the rest of the world to live in blissful oblivion. —Rob Wieland, Forbes, 7 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English oblivioun, borrowed from Anglo-French oblivion, obliviun, borrowed from Latin oblīviōn-, oblīviō "state of forgetting, dismissal from the memory," from oblīv-, stem of oblīvīscī "to forget, put out of mind" (from ob- "toward, facing" + -līvīscī, inchoative derivative of a stem līv- of uncertain meaning and origin) + -iōn-, -iō, suffix of action nouns formed from compound verbs — more at ob-

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

oblivion

noun

obliv·​i·​on ə-ˈbliv-ē-ən 

ō-,

ä-

1

: the state of forgetting or having forgotten or of being unaware or unconscious

2

: the state of being forgotten