obnoxious
Americanadjective
-
highly objectionable or offensive; odious.
obnoxious behavior.
- Antonyms:
- delightful
-
annoying or objectionable due to being a show-off or attracting undue attention to oneself.
an obnoxious little brat.
-
Archaic. exposed or liable to harm, evil, or anything objectionable.
-
Obsolete. liable to punishment or censure; reprehensible.
adjective
-
extremely unpleasant
-
obsolete exposed to harm, injury, etc
Related Words
See hateful.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of obnoxious
First recorded in 1575–85; from Latin obnoxiōsus “harmful,” equivalent to ob- “to, toward, against,” + noxiōsus “harmful”; see ob-, noxious
Explanation
If something is obnoxious, it's annoying and unpleasant. Generally, people like to avoid obnoxious folks. If something is driving you absolutely crazy, it's probably obnoxious. Yelling and stomping your feet is obnoxious. Poking someone repeatedly is obnoxious. Driving like a maniac is obnoxious. If the teacher comes in and finds students jumping up and down and throwing books, she might say, "Stop being so obnoxious!" Any time someone is obnoxious, someone else probably wants them to stop it.
Vocabulary lists containing obnoxious
Negative Words to Describe a Person
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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
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Freak the Mighty
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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.
Tech workers are walking around talking to AI, pairing dictation apps with coding tools to turn rambling prompts into usable text in seconds—a process that can be both efficient and obnoxious.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
Mostly, Julian and Lori take turns thwarting his obnoxious kids and threatening to quit.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026
It’s a hilarious take on bonding with ancestors, in this case in an intergalactic bathhouse where Zaalan’s Syrian ancestors must field obnoxious first world questions from millennial descendants.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026
The severity of seemingly mundane, everyday anxieties — school bullies, the prom, graduation, obnoxious Cher-obsessed college roommates — is on par with demons trying to hasten the apocalypse.
From Salon • Mar. 26, 2026
“I thought he went to get a soda. What happened, Adam? Were you so obnoxious that someone poured it over your head?”
From "Trouble at the Arcade (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #1)" by Franklin W. Dixon
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.
