efface
to wipe out; do away with; expunge: to efface one's unhappy memories.
to rub out, erase, or obliterate (outlines, traces, inscriptions, etc.).
to make (oneself) inconspicuous; withdraw (oneself) modestly or shyly.
Origin of efface
1Other words from efface
- ef·face·a·ble, adjective
- ef·face·ment, noun
- ef·fac·er, noun
- un·ef·face·a·ble, adjective
- un·ef·faced, adjective
Words Nearby efface
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use efface in a sentence
The laid-back, self-effacing Iowa State graduate grew up on AOL and traces his career arc with references to Myspace and TikTok.
Trail Blazers president made it from the Twitter streets to the corner office | Ben Golliver | February 26, 2022 | Washington PostAfter missing an opportunity to soul-search in Berlin, this gentle, self-effacing character must find the courage to fuse the pieces of their fragmented life without leaving home.
Few writers are so wise and self-effacing and emotionally honest all in one breath.
Jo Ann Beard, best known for her New Yorker essay about a shooting, returns with a beautiful new collection | Sara Lippmann | March 11, 2021 | Washington PostEven over video chat, Ishiguro, or “Ish” as he introduces himself, is charming and self-effacing company.
Kazuo Ishiguro on How His New Novel Klara and the Sun Is a Celebration of Humanity | Dan Stewart | March 2, 2021 | TimeI hurried away, and it was long before I could efface the impression made upon my mind by this hideous spectacle.
A Woman's Journey Round the World | Ida Pfeiffer
Thus disappeared from his life the only stain which his restoration had not been able utterly to efface.
The Seven Cardinal Sins: Envy and Indolence | Eugne SueThen he hastily laid earth in the interstices round it, and tried to efface all signs of its having been recently removed.
Jack Harkaway's Boy Tinker Among The Turks | Bracebridge HemyngNothing can ever cure me, no dream of my mind can ever efface the dream of my heart.
The Child of Pleasure | Gabriele D'AnnunzioShe has long been dead, but time will never efface from my mind a tender recollection of her kindness.
The Monctons: A Novel, Volume I | Susanna Moodie
British Dictionary definitions for efface
/ (ɪˈfeɪs) /
to obliterate or make dim: to efface a memory
to make (oneself) inconspicuous or humble through modesty, cowardice, or obsequiousness
to rub out (a line, drawing, etc); erase
Origin of efface
1Derived forms of efface
- effaceable, adjective
- effacement, noun
- effacer, noun
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
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