obliteration

noun

"obliteration" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“obliteration” is uncommon English (frequency #61,674 among 1,431 “O” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#61,674
frequency rank, English
1,431
“O” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The total destruction of something.

Corpus desk

Index EN-obliteration · obliteration · English

obliteration · rank #61,674 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #61,674
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,431
  • PHOTO-FINISH Obadiah

Nearest frequency peer: Obadiah (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “obliteration”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “obliteration” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for obliteration
PropertyValue
Headwordobliteration
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters12
Frequency rank#61,674
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “obliteration” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).obliterationfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Obadiah” (#61,673), “oliva” (#61,677), “nosedive” (#61,670). Among 1,431 “O” headwords, “obliteration” is #61,674. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

obliteration is uncommon English at frequency #61,674 among 1,431 “O” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for obliteration in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From obliterate + -ion. The correct English form is obliteration, spelled O-B-L-I-T-E-R-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    The total destruction of something.
  2. 2
    The concealing or covering of something.
  3. 3
    The cancellation, erasure or deletion of something.
  4. 4
    The cancellation of the function, structure, or both of a vessel or organ; for example, the occlusion of the lumen of a duct, blood vessel, or lymphatic vessel, be it solely functional (as when squeezed by nearby mass effect or inflammation) or both structural and functional (as when clogged with thrombus, embolus, or fibrosis).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how obliteration appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. This illustration depicts exoplanet Kepler-1658b (left), doomed to eventual obliteration by its aging host star.
  2. Stark before-and-after images reveal the obliteration of Bakhmut [title]

Etymology

From obliterate + -ion.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "obliteration"?
"obliteration" is spelled O-B-L-I-T-E-R-A-T-I-O-N.
What does "obliteration" mean?
As a noun, "obliteration" means: The total destruction of something.
What is the origin of the word "obliteration"?
From obliterate + -ion. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "obliteration", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 12 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list