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

Last month’s strikes, which simultaneously hit numerous energy infrastructure sites across Ukraine, obliterated 80 percent of capacity at DTEK’s thermal power plants. —Serhii Korolchuk, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024

But a lot was to be expected in the women’s bracket…No. 1 South Carolina obliterated No. 16 Presbyterian, 91-39 and No. 3 LSU defeated No. 14 Rice, 70-60. —Trisha Garcia-Easto, Sacramento Bee, 23 Mar. 2024

But Spanish invaders obliterated the Aztec capital in the 16th century, smashing dikes and other Indigenous hydraulic works. —Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024

The Cyclones obliterated Houston in the Big 12 title game but didn’t climb to the No. 1 seed line, instead landing the No. 2 in Connecticut’s region. —Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 17 Mar. 2024

Nvidia posted $22 billion in fourth-quarter revenue, obliterating consensus expectations by about $1.7 billion. —Paolo Confino, Fortune, 22 Feb. 2024

Unless, for a hero of the counterculture like Gordon, obliterating the brand is, in fact, the brand. —Chris Richards, Washington Post, 8 Mar. 2024

But critics contend that the new laws are variations of flawed past policies and would have the same consequences: punishing people of color disproportionately, obliterating hope and pathways to rehabilitation for prisoners, and foisting a staggering cost onto taxpayers. —Rick Rojas, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2024

The Tulsa Massacre, one of the deadliest events in U.S. history, saw a White mob in 1921 murder hundreds of Black people and obliterate the area known as Black Wall Street. —Analisa Novak, CBS News, 26 Feb. 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