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

Explanation

Something that's obliterated is gone. If your dreams of becoming a trapeze artist are completely obliterated after your first two difficult weeks at circus school, maybe you can switch to clowning. Obliterated comes from the Latin phrase literas scribere, meaning strike or cross out letters. When something is obliterated, it disappears or is so damaged, you can barely recognize it. It might be literally wiped out, like a house obliterated by fire, or figuratively destroyed, like your obliterated hopes of marrying your favorite movie star someday.

Example Sentences

Iran, he said, had been completely obliterated, yet it clearly hasn’t.

From Salon • Apr. 3, 2026

"As a result of Operation Midnight Hammer, Iran's nuclear enrichment program was obliterated," Gabbard said in prepared testimony to the Senate intelligence committee, referring to the June 2025 US attack.

From Barron's • Mar. 18, 2026

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 • Jan. 16, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 19, 2025

In the seventy-five years since the Dark Days—when 13 was said to have been obliterated in the war between the Capitol and the districts— almost all new construction has been beneath the earth’s surface.

From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins