obliterate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to remove or destroy all traces of; do away with; destroy completely.
-
to blot out or render undecipherable (writing, marks, etc.); efface.
- Synonyms:
- expunge
verb
Related Words
See cancel.
Other Word Forms
- obliterable adjective
- obliteration noun
- obliterative adjective
- obliterator noun
Etymology
Origin of obliterate
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin oblitterātus “effaced,” past participle of oblitterāre “to efface, cause to be forgotten,” equivalent to ob- ob- + litter(a) letter 1 + -āre, infinitive verb suffix
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.
But now satellite images reveal that Iran is repairing the damage done, suggesting he didn’t obliterate the sites after all.
From Slate • Feb. 6, 2026
Now he’s a memory that Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin and fellow writer Halley Gross revisit one more time, and at a point in Ellie’s journey when a vendetta threatens to obliterate her moral compass.
From Salon • May 19, 2025
And why does it feel like large swaths of the local hip-hop world not only want to pretend that the killing never happened, but simultaneously obliterate all evidence of Drakeo’s era-defining impact?
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 25, 2025
But what she didn’t know was that a meteor was hurtling in her direction, about to obliterate everything.
From BBC • Aug. 2, 2024
Mom came around the corner just as he’d managed to obliterate the last e of conference.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
