adjective
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easy to see or understand; evident
-
exhibiting motives, feelings, intentions, etc, clearly or without subtlety
-
naive or unsubtle
the play was rather obvious
-
obsolete being or standing in the way
Related Words
See apparent.
Other Word Forms
- nonobvious adjective
- nonobviously adverb
- nonobviousness noun
- obviously adverb
- obviousness noun
- overobvious adjective
- preobvious adjective
- preobviously adverb
- preobviousness noun
- unobvious adjective
- unobviously adverb
- unobviousness noun
Etymology
Origin of obvious
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin obvius “in the way, lying in the path,” equivalent to ob- ob- ( def. ) + vi(a) way 1 ( def. ) + -us, adjective suffix ( -ous ( def. ) )
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.
One obvious solution would be to give your father’s stepson the value of the mobile home from the estate’s remaining assets.
From MarketWatch
The next big caveat: there is not an obvious successor to Sir Keir at the moment.
From BBC
On Sunday night, the dominance of the Patriots will be obvious.
From Los Angeles Times
Hemetsberger's delight in completing the training run alone was obvious to see, a fist pumping the air as he came into the finish area.
From Barron's
“It’s obvious that military commanders and highly qualified specialists are under threat at a time of war,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
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.
