obliterate

[uh-blit-uh-reyt]

verb (used with object)

obliterated, obliterating 

1. to remove or destroy all traces of; do away with; destroy completely.

2. to blot out or render undecipherable (writing, marks, etc.); efface.

   Synonyms: expunge

obliterate

/ əˈblɪtəˌreɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to destroy every trace of; wipe out completely

Other Word Forms

• obliterable adjective
• obliterator noun
• obliterative adjective
• obliteration noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of obliterate¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of obliterate¹

C16: from Latin oblitterāre to erase, from ob- out + littera letter

Synonym Study

See cancel.

Example Sentences

Vance also warned that "if Hamas does not co-operate, it will be obliterated", while refusing to give a deadline for when the Palestinian group must disarm - a part of US proposals yet to be agreed.

Read more on BBC

Back in Ukraine, the BBC spoke on Friday to a couple repairing the small store they own in a suburb of Kyiv, after it was obliterated by Russian missiles last month.

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Live performances rooted in the Black experience, and scripted by Strachan, take place among museum visitors, obliterating the divide between art and spectator.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Hezbollah believed it controlled Lebanon and that its thousands of rockets could obliterate Israel.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The Hall of Extinction and Hope analogizes manmade climate change and habitat destruction to a slow-moving asteroid that has already obliterated species such as the passenger pigeon, dodo and great auk.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• annihilate 
• black out 
• eliminate 
• eradicate 
• erase 
• expunge 
• exterminate 
• knock out 
• obscure 
• ravage 
• smash 
• wash out 
• wipe out