obnoxious
[uh b-nok-shuh s]
- highly objectionable or offensive; odious: obnoxious behavior.
- annoying or objectionable due to being a showoff 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.
Show More
Origin of obnoxious
Synonyms
See more synonyms for obnoxious on Thesaurus.com1. See hateful.
Antonyms
1. delightful.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for obnoxiousness
Contemporary Examples
With the cross-cultural humor well running dry, Tucker sends his obnoxiousness into overdrive, becoming completely unbearable.
He could be poised to pull an Alec Baldwin—from fame to obnoxiousness to obscurity to a critically acclaimed sitcom.
Historical Examples
For the latter tends to confirm and sanction the dualism in all its obnoxiousness.
Human Nature and ConductJohn Dewey
Mr. Pope tells me that I am dead, and that this obnoxiousness is the reward for my inoffensiveness in my former life.
Life And Letters Of John Gay (1685-1732)Lewis Melville
It spreads until a Negro is lynched for chicken stealing, or for mere “obnoxiousness.”
Following the Color LineRay Stannard Baker
When we were mining, we lived in separate tents, so as not to intrude our obnoxiousness on each other.
Rolling StonesO. Henry
obnoxious
- extremely unpleasant
- obsolete exposed to harm, injury, etc
Show More
Word Origin
C16: from Latin obnoxius, from ob- to + noxa injury, from nocēre to harm
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for obnoxiousness
obnoxious
adj.
1580s, "subject to the authority of another," from Latin obnoxiosus "hurtful, injurious," from obnoxius "subject, exposed to harm," from ob "to, toward" (see ob-) + noxa "injury, hurt, damage entailing liability" (see noxious). Meaning "subject to something harmful" is 1590s; meaning "offensive, hateful" is first recorded 1670s, influenced by noxious.
Obnoxious has two very different senses, one of which (exposed or open or liable to attack or injury) requires notice because its currency is now so restricted that it is puzzling to the uninstructed. It is the word's rightful or de jure meaning, and we may hope that scholarly writers will keep it alive. [Fowler]
Related: Obnoxiously; obnoxiousness.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper