obliterate
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
10 characters
Language
English
word origin
Source
Wiktionary
open dictionary
Access
Free
no sign-up needed
Detailed reference entry for the English word "obliterate", 10-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "obliterate" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "obliterate" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
obliterate is aEnglishverb. It means: To destroy (someone or something) completely, leaving no trace; to annihilate, to wipe out. Pronounced /əˈblɪtəɹeɪt/. Often confused with obliterated.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | obliterate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /əˈblɪtəɹeɪt/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #37,601 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for obliterate is 10 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈblɪtəɹeɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #37,601 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 14 documented wrong-spelling variants for obliterate, with forms such as "boliterate", "obbliterate", and "obilterate". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "obliterated", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *h₁epi (start of 17th century) From earlier obliterat, learned borrowing from Latin obliterātus, oblitterātus (“having been blotted out, effaced, erased; having been forgotten”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix, of participial origin)). Obliterātus … Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is obliterate, spelled O-B-L-I-T-E-R-A-T-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1To destroy (someone or something) completely, leaving no trace; to annihilate, to wipe out.
- 2To hide (something) by covering it; to conceal, to obscure.
- 3To make (a drawing, text which is printed or written, etc.) indecipherable, either by erasing or obscuring it; to blot out, to efface, to delete.
- 4To impair the function and/or structure of (a body cavity, vessel, etc.) by ablating or occluding it (in the latter case, chiefly by filling it with tissue).
- 5To cancel (a postage stamp) with a postmark so it cannot be reused.
- 6To be destroyed completely, leaving no trace.
- 7Of a body cavity, vessel, etc.: to close up or fill with tissue; of perfusion or a pulse: to cease owing to obstruction.
Etymology
PIE word *h₁epi (start of 17th century) From earlier obliterat, learned borrowing from Latin obliterātus, oblitterātus (“having been blotted out, effaced, erased; having been forgotten”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix, of participial origin)). Obliterātus and oblitterātus are respectively the perfect passive participles of obliterō and oblitterō (“to blot out, efface, erase, obliterate; to cause to be forgotten”), probably either: * from ob- (prefix meaning ‘against; towards’) + littera (“letter of the alphabet; (metonymically) handwriting”) (further etymology unknown); or * from oblītus (“disregarded, neglected; forgotten”), influenced by littera. Oblītus is the perfect passive participle of oblinō (“to daub over, besmear”), from ob- + possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ- (“not heavy, light; brief; swift”). Cognates * Catalan obliterar (“to erase; to cancel (a stamp); to close up or fill (a body cavity, vessel, etc.)”) * Middle French oblitérer (modern French oblitérer (“to cause (memories) to fade; to block, obstruct; to cancel (a stamp, ticket, etc.) so it cannot be reused”)) * Portuguese obliterar (“to destroy completely; to erase”) * Spanish obliterar (“to destroy completely; to erase”)
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: boliterate,obbliterate,obilterate,oblietrate,oblitearte,obliteraet,obliteratte,obliterrate,oblitertae,oblitreate,oblitterate,oblliterate,obltierate,olbiterate
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for obliterate
Misspelling Variants of "obliterate"
Frequency rank: #37,601 in English
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "obliterate"?
What does "obliterate" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "obliterate"?
How do you pronounce "obliterate"?
What is the origin of the word "obliterate"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter O in our English index: