obvious
ob·vi·ous/ˈɑb.vi.əs/adjective
obvious is spelled O-B-V-I-O-U-S: 7 letters and 3 syllables (ob·vi·ous). It appears 43 times per million words in written English, the 2,339th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, obvious means “Easily discovered, seen, or understood; self-explanatory” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in obvious?
| Letters | 7: O-B-V-I-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: ob·vi·ous |
| In writing | 43 times per million words; the 2,339th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is obvious?
Obvious appears 43 times per million words in written English, the 2,339th 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 obvious?
- US /ˈɑb.vi.əs/
- US /ˈɑ.vi.əs/
- UK /ˈɒ.vɪəs/
Obvious has 3 syllables, split ob·vi·ous in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-obvious.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of obvious
- more obvious comparative
- most obvious superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does obvious mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Easily discovered, seen, or understood; self-explanatory.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate obvious?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of obvious: obv., obvi.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Obvious in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | évident |
| German | offensichtlich, selbstverständlich, deutlich, überdeutlich, offenbar, evident |
| Portuguese | óbvio |
| Spanish | obvio, evidente |
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 obvious come from?
16th century, from Latin obvius (“being in the way so as to meet, meeting, easy to access, at hand, ready, obvious”) + -ous, from ob- (“before”) + via (“way”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).