Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. (Or: "Even in this age of _, _ seem doomed to obliteration.")Įxample: "Even in this age of cheap digital books, physical ones don't seem doomed to obliteration." before you review, play: Bob Drogin, Los Angeles Times, 2 November 2018 study it:Įxplain the meaning of "obliterate" without saying "mark out completely" or "demolish." try it out:įill in the blanks: "In this age of _, _ seem(s) doomed to obliteration." "They methodically dynamited Manila’s business, government and religious landmarks, obliterating the city’s cultural heritage." The scandals should have obliterated his chances in the election. If you can make it go away completely, as if you're marking it out with a giant black Sharpie, you can obliterate it.īut often, "obliterate" is an exaggeration: "Their team obliterated ours." examples: More often, we're figurative, talking about the people, things, factors, events, and situations that obliterate hopes, chances, possibilities, memories, differences, habits, traditions, motivation, concentration, etc. "A postmark obliterates a stamp so that it can't be reused " "Time and weathering had obliterated the inscription on the gravestone." Or, talk literally (or with exaggeration) about natural disasters (like wildfires, tornadoes, earthquakes, or tsunamis) that obliterate buildings, neighborhoods, or towns. You might be literal and talk about physical things being obliterated. This word has a serious tone, which makes it great for strong emphasis and exaggeration. Obliterated, obliterating, obliteration, obliterative, obliterator(s) "laughter obliterated my bad mood," "their hopes have been obliterated." To obliterate something is to make it disappear or to destroy it completely, as if you're completely marking it out with a pen. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with. To ef_e something is to totally get rid of it or wipe it out, as if you're rubbing its face away with an eraser.Ģ. To er_ate something is to get rid of it completely, as if you've ripped it out of the earth by the roots. Let's recall some synonyms of obliterate:ġ. When you obliterate something, it's as if you're crossing it out-scratching it out of existence. It literally means "against the letters" and may have come from the Latin phrase literas scribere, which means "to write (across) letters," that is, to draw lines over them, to strike them out. I imagine most of us already know the word obliterate, but it's so fun to use, with such an interesting origin, that it's worth a few minutes of study.
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