obviate

American  

[ob-vee-eyt] / ˈɒb viˌeɪt /

verb (used with object)

obviated, obviating

1. to anticipate and prevent or eliminate (difficulties, disadvantages, etc.) by effective measures; render unnecessary.

   to obviate the risk of serious injury.

   Synonyms:

   anticipate, avert, preclude

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obviate British  

/ ˈɒbvɪˌeɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to avoid or prevent (a need or difficulty)

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Usage

Only things that have not yet occurred can be obviated. For example, one can obviate a possible future difficulty, but not one that already exists

Other Word Forms

• obviable adjective
• obviation noun
• obviator noun
• preobviate verb (used with object)
• unobviable adjective
• unobviated adjective

Etymology

Origin of obviate

1590–1600; from Latin obviātus, past participle of obviāre “to act contrary to,” derivative of obvius; obvious, -ate ¹

Example Sentences

This will obviate the need to travel to entertainment venues and make access economical and on-demand.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026

As Bessent should understand, the violation of one logical condition can obviate the logic of another—what a logician might call an “antecedent condition.”

From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026

Strategy already set aside a $1.4 billion reserve for dividend and interest payments over the next two years to obviate the need to sell bitcoins in the near future.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 4, 2025

Still, as Ritholtz and Invictus point out, it’s hornbook economics that the proper way to deal with non-seasonally adjusted figures is to use year-to-year comparisons, which obviate seasonal trends.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 12, 2024

To obviate this, I cleaned but two steps at a time, a distance over which a ten-year-old child could step.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

Related Words

• counteract
• forestall
• preclude