oblivious
/əˈblɪviəs/adjective
oblivious is spelled O-B-L-I-V-I-O-U-S: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,336th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, oblivious means “Lacking awareness; unmindful; unaware, unconscious of” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in oblivious?
| Letters | 9: O-B-L-I-V-I-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.0 times per million words; the 19,336th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is oblivious?
Oblivious appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,336th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce oblivious?
- US /əˈblɪviəs/
Oblivious has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-oblivious.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-PRB-oblivious.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with oblivious?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as oblivious from its last stressed vowel (/ɪviəs/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of oblivious
- more oblivious comparative
- most oblivious superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does oblivious mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Lacking awareness; unmindful; unaware, unconscious of.
Your grandmother is completely oblivious to her surroundings.
- 2
datedForgetful.
He's hopelessly oblivious, always forgetting his appointments.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Oblivious in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ignorant, inconscient , distrait, oublieux |
| German | selbstvergessen, unaufmerksam, nicht bewusst, unbedacht, unbedarft , vergesslich |
| Portuguese | inconsciente, sem noção , esquecediço, esquecidiço |
| Spanish | inconsciente, desprevenido, ajeno, desconocedor, no darse cuenta, oblivio |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does oblivious come from?
From Middle English oblivious, from Latin oblīviōsus (“forgetful, oblivious”), formed from oblīvium (“forgetfulness, oblivion”) + -ōsus (“full of, overly, prone to”), from oblīvīscor (“to forget”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).