as in ambiguous
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of nonobvious
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
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
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nonobvious
Adjective
-
With stunning celerity, possibility becomes probability and then certainty, as readers reject the quiet, circuitous, and unglamorous narratives of prudential compromise, ambiguous diplomacy, or incremental progress.—
Elizabeth D. Samet,
Foreign Affairs,
29 Oct. 2025
-
Ibsen’s choice to use Hedda’s maiden name for the play speaks to her resistance to the strong presence of men in her life; DaCosta’s choice to remove the surname entirely speaks to a rejection of patriarchal identity, replaced with an ambiguous void that Hedda herself doesn’t know how to fill.—
Rory Doherty,
Time,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Tell us which creepy, kooky, mysterious, spooky and altogether ooky anthem is your favorite to listen to during Halloween time — or at any point in the year — by voting in the poll below.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
30 Oct. 2025
-
As the unloved surviving son of a cruel father, he was approached by a wizard who offered him gold to secretly feed a mysterious hedgehog-faced monster in a cave.—
Scott Meslow,
Vulture,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The details surrounding the case, which became the subject of Netflix’s 2015 documentary Making a Murderer, remain unclear, with no official cause of death apart from homicide and no eyewitnesses to the crime.—
Nicole Briese,
PEOPLE,
31 Oct. 2025
-
This introspective behavior, however, was highly inconsistent—occurring only about 20% of the time—and its underlying mechanisms remain unclear.—
Jeremy Kahn,
Fortune,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Even then, though, the path is obscure.—
Ellie Cook,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Oct. 2025
-
Many years have passed since nursing home patients lived in the Redlands Road building, the obscure permit on which the occupancy rested has lapsed.—
Lou Murray,
Boston Herald,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The old woman is speaking, but her voice is far away and indistinct.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 Oct. 2025
-
Their experiences were dismissed as indistinct from men’s, shaped by patriarchal assumptions about heroism.—
Christopher P. Davey,
The Conversation,
6 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Characters make incomprehensible choices.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
29 Oct. 2025
-
That would be an almost incomprehensible outcome, given that Mendoza — after graduating from Miami’s Columbus High School — had just one scholarship offer from a major-conference school, and that came from Cal just one day before National Signing Day.—
Walter Villa,
Miami Herald,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Welch announced their album Everybody Scream back in August, following a few cryptic teasers.—
Tomás Mier,
Rolling Stone,
24 Oct. 2025
-
This led many fans to believe that online discussions and interviews referencing his expiring contract were part of an elaborate storyline, given Kross's cryptic persona.—
Andrew Ravens,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Mia Wasikowska plays Edith, an heiress who marries a seductive baron, Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston), and moves into his enormous, decaying mansion — which is also inhabited by Thomas' enigmatic sister, Lucille (Jessica Chastain).—
Steven Thrash,
Entertainment Weekly,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Brides finds Sally Bishop (Cooke) and her husband on a trip to Northern Italy in 1961, where they get stranded at a remote villa run by the enigmatic Vova (Lawtey), who presides over a household of beautiful, deathless women (Turner-Smith, Prettejohn) and their caretaker (Gorman).—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
23 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nonobvious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nonobvious. Accessed 1 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share