nonobvious

adjective

non·​ob·​vi·​ous ˌnän-ˈäb-vē-əs How to pronounce nonobvious (audio)
: not easily discovered, seen, or understood : not obvious
nonobvious trends
a nonobvious solution
nonobviousness noun
In order to be patentable the improvement itself must meet all three requirements of novelty, utility, and nonobviousness. Earl W. Kintner and Jack L. Lahr

Examples of nonobvious in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web In fact, adopting AI, especially with something as central to success as pricing, makes figuring out how to fit the old with the new both critically important and nonobvious. Mike Ryan, Forbes, 25 Jan. 2022 This comes to resemble a branding exercise—perhaps a necessary one to sell a book these days—but the advice is good, and some of it nonobvious. Matthew Hutson, WSJ, 6 Dec. 2021 The rise of cloud computing, open-source platforms and the API economy has contributed in both obvious and nonobvious ways to this transformation. Romi Stein, Forbes, 1 June 2021 To get a patent, an invention must be novel, nonobvious and useful—all reasonable requirements. Paul R. Michel and Matthew J. Dowd, WSJ, 23 Jan. 2020 And to also keep nonobvious stuff on hand — like teddy bears for the kids, a rubber bone for the dog and $50 in cash, all in $1 bills. Steve Rubenstein, SFChronicle.com, 11 June 2019 But nonobvious money trails are popular on both ends of the spectrum. Scott Walter, WSJ, 16 Oct. 2018

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nonobvious.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1888, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of nonobvious was in 1888

Dictionary Entries Near nonobvious

Cite this Entry

“Nonobvious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nonobvious. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.

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