adjective
-
easy to see or understand; evident
-
exhibiting motives, feelings, intentions, etc, clearly or without subtlety
-
naive or unsubtle
the play was rather obvious
-
obsolete being or standing in the way
Related Words
See apparent.
Other Word Forms
- nonobvious adjective
- nonobviously adverb
- nonobviousness noun
- obviously adverb
- obviousness noun
- overobvious adjective
- preobvious adjective
- preobviously adverb
- preobviousness noun
- unobvious adjective
- unobviously adverb
- unobviousness noun
Etymology
Origin of obvious
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin obvius “in the way, lying in the path,” equivalent to ob- ob- ( def. ) + vi(a) way 1 ( def. ) + -us, adjective suffix ( -ous ( def. ) )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He is an obvious sentimental favorite; he is trained by Mark Glatt, whose wife of 25 years, Dena, died Feb. 12 from cardiac arrest.
From Los Angeles Times
No obvious damage has been observed to the base from the low-resolution satellite imagery we have available.
From BBC
Some of the book’s best advice might seem laughably obvious.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick got caught in an obvious lie about his relationship with Epstein, insisting he barely knew the man, when in reality they were business partners who were photographed on vacation together.
From Salon
Steven's prediction: A couple of weeks ago, I would have said it is obvious what is going to happen here.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
