adjective
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easy to see or understand; evident
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exhibiting motives, feelings, intentions, etc, clearly or without subtlety
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naive or unsubtle
the play was rather obvious
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obsolete being or standing in the way
Synonym Usage
See apparent.
Other Word Forms
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 ( see -ous ( def. ))
Explanation
Something obvious is plain to see and easily understandable. It was obvious that you didn't enjoy your meal because I found it rolled in a napkin and shoved under the rug. There's nothing vague about the adjective obvious — it's right there in front of your eyes! It describes something that's easy to figure out or the most straightforward option. If someone states the obvious, you're likely to respond with a sarcastic "No duh!" or "Thanks Sherlock." If obvious isn't the obvious word of choice, you can try a synonym such as "evident" or "apparent."
Vocabulary lists containing obvious
Now I See! Synonyms for "Clear"
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Latin Love, Vol I: via
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Essential English Vocabulary, List 4
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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.
So first, lay out clear guidelines, principles and guardrails for the work to help the employee avoid obvious problems and mistakes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
That raised an obvious question: Why do North American crayfish appear to stop growing at around this size when some species elsewhere in the world, including the Tasmanian giant freshwater crayfish, can become dramatically larger?
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
To his eye, the telltale errors of off-the-shelf A.I. translation tools were obvious.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
Some analysts expect SpaceX and Tesla to merge in the future, although the timing of that isn’t obvious.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026
Why was it all so obvious, now that it was too late?
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
