as in to prevent
to keep from happening by taking action in advance
brushing regularly should obviate the need for frequent trips to the dentist
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Recent Examples of obviate
The new ballroom should obviate the need for use of tents on the South Lawn of the White House for big events.
—
Niall Stanage, The Hill, 24 Oct. 2025
Those efforts, however, don’t obviate the fact that the rivalry between the two Asian giants persists.
—Tanvi Madan, Foreign Affairs, 24 Sep. 2025
But the letters don’t obviate the need for committee meetings, said Peter Lurie, a former associate FDA commissioner who heads the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
—Arthur Allen, CNN Money, 12 Sep. 2025
But opponents say joining a regional grid could obviate California’s autonomy regarding its clean energy goals and link the Golden State with states that burn coal.
—Rob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for obviate
Niall Stanage, The Hill, 24 Oct. 2025
Those efforts, however, don’t obviate the fact that the rivalry between the two Asian giants persists.
—Tanvi Madan, Foreign Affairs, 24 Sep. 2025
But the letters don’t obviate the need for committee meetings, said Peter Lurie, a former associate FDA commissioner who heads the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
—Arthur Allen, CNN Money, 12 Sep. 2025
But opponents say joining a regional grid could obviate California’s autonomy regarding its clean energy goals and link the Golden State with states that burn coal.
—Rob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for obviate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for obviate
Verb
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This formula contains niacinamide to help support hair and skin health, ashwagandha extract to soothe, and biotin to help strengthen hair and prevent breakage.—
Andrea Navarro,
Glamour,
29 Jan. 2026
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The yen touched its strongest level since October in US trading Tuesday after comments from Japanese officials, including just recently the finance minister, fueled speculation that the government may intervene in the market to prevent the currency from resuming its decline.—
Mia Glass,
Bloomberg,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Its networking and optical connectivity chips function as the lifeline of modern data centers, averting bottlenecks as inference workloads expand across clusters.—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
23 Jan. 2026
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Another special skill for binocular astronomers that isn’t intuitive is averted vision.—
Jase Parnell-Brookes,
Space.com,
23 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Duke University has sued QB Darian Mensah over his decision to enter the transfer portal, arguing that an NIL contract the school signed with Mensah—who transferred to Duke last year—ought to effectively preclude him from playing college football elsewhere.—
Jacob Feldman,
Sportico.com,
22 Jan. 2026
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Be warned that waiting until after a letter of intent (LOI) is signed often precludes tax mitigation strategies that require long-term structuring.—
John Hall,
Forbes.com,
18 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Obviate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/obviate. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
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