obliterated

American  

[uh-blit-uh-rey-tid] / əˈblɪt əˌreɪ tɪd /

adjective

1. completely destroyed or done away with, so that little or no trace remains.

   I stood amid the rubble of obliterated buildings, where not even a feral cat was to be seen.

   Removing the brain tumor left him with an obliterated memory of the last 15 years.

2. blotted out completely so that it cannot be read or discerned.

   He was arrested for possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of obliterate.

Other Word Forms

• half-obliterated adjective
• unobliterated adjective

Etymology

Origin of obliterated

First recorded in 1605–15; obliterate ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; obliterate ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

Its centerpiece, the lodge-like Davies Building, was all but obliterated by the fire, and its amphitheater, while still intact, suffered notable damage.

From Los Angeles Times

Life in the camp obliterated any vision of a future, any memory of a past.

From Literature

If there were still any doubts that Major League Baseball was hurtling toward a labor meltdown next winter, they were obliterated on Thursday night.

From The Wall Street Journal

During a 1987 trip back to Poland, he found that the cemetery where his grandparents were buried had been obliterated by a highway.

From The Wall Street Journal

With the Lake Avenue property obliterated, it now operates out of Pasadena’s McKinley School.

From Los Angeles Times