Dictionary

obvious en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈɒb.vɪəs/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈɑ.vi.əs/ (General-American, informal)
• /ˈɒv.jəs/ (Received-Pronunciation, informal)
• /ˈɑb.vi.əs/ (General-American)
• /ˈɒ.vɪəs/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (US) audio

Etymology

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”).

Meanings

1. Easily discovered, seen, or understood; self-explanatory.
   • It is not obvious, to economists anyway, that cities should exist at all. Crowds of people mean congestion and costly land and labour. But there are also well-known advantages to bunching up. When transport costs are sufficiently high a firm can spend more money shipping goods to clusters of consumers than it saves on cheap land and labour. 2013 August 17, “Down towns”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8849:
   • One of the most obvious results of the B.R. Modernisation Plan has been the increasing use of diesel and electric traction; a less obvious by-product is the increase in track damage possible with the new forms of traction. 1961 February, R. K. Evans, “The role of research on British Railways”, in Trains Illustrated, page 92:
   • During the first year or so of British Railways, some of the simpler and more obvious inter-regional transfers of outlying sections were effected, such as those of the London, Tilbury & Southend Railway from the London Midland Region to the Eastern Region; the South Wales lines of the former L.M.S.R. to the Western Region; the Carlisle-Silloth branch (an L.N.E.R. legacy of a North British "border raid") to the London Midland, and so on. 1951 April, D. S. Barrie, “British Railways: A Survey, 1948-1950”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 224:
   • 'Cause I threw you the obvious / to see what occurs behind / the eyes of a fallen angel / Eyes of a tragedy / Oh well, oh well / Apparently nothing / Apparently nothing at all 2000, “3 Libras”, performed by A Perfect Circle:
   • Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations. It is easily earned repetition to state that Josephine St. Auban's was a presence not to be concealed. 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

Forms

Antonyms

subtle · clear as mud · nonobvious · non-obvious · opaque · nonevident · inconspicuous · inevident · muddled · unclear · muddied · unobvious · unevident

Deriveds

unobvious · semiobvious · overobvious · master of the obvious · obviosity · obvi · obviousness · Captain Obvious · obvious by inspection · state the obvious · obviously · non-obvious · nonobvious

Hyponyms

univocal · undoubtable · immediate · indubitable · self-evident

Relateds

obviate · obviously

Synonyms

bait · patent · undoubted · plain as the nose on one's face · res ipsa loquitur · plain as a haystack · plain as a pikestaff · evident · straightforward · crystal clear · splendent · ostensible · plain as Dunstable highway · undissembled · eyely · elucidate · blatant · plain · decided · plain as Salisbury · cut and dried · glaring · arrant · apparent · plain as print · palpable · noticeable · intuitive · conspicuous · clear · obvious · plain as day · clear as a bell · clear as day · prima facie · notable · clear cut · open-and-shut · manifest · plain as porridge

Translations (126)

oc òbvi (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · hu egyértelmű (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · it ovvio (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · pam ulata (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · hu kézenfekvő (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · cmn 顯然 /显然 (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · be відаво́чны (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · tr açık (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · da åbenlys (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ar بَدَهِيّ (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ja 当たり前 (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · hu magától értetődő (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ko 당연(當然)하다 (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · cmn 顯而易見 /显而易见 (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · nl voor de hand liggend (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · et selge (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · hi प्रत्यक्ष (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ca obvi (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · cs samozřejmý (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · da tydelig (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · zza akerde (diq) (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ota آچق (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · no opplagt (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ps ښکاره (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ru очеви́дный (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · da indlysende (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · de offenbar (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ang andġiete (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ota بللی (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · az aydın (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · de deutlich (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · fi ilmeinen (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ps څرګند (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · bg очеви́ден (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · prg akiwīsts (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · jv cetha (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ro evident (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · km ជាក់ស្តែង (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · pl oczywisty (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · el προφανής (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · it palese (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ka ცხადი (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · cmn 明擺著 /明摆著 (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ajp وَاضِح (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · az bariz (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · tr belirgin (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · de evident (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · lt akivaizdus (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · cmn 明摆着 (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · uk очеви́дний (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · is bersýnilegur (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · txb pākri (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ar بَدِيهِيّ (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · da oplagt (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ia obvie (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · yue 明顯 /明显 (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · es obvio (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · cs zřejmý (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · mk очи́гледен (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ro clar (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · de selbstverständlich (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · mk оче́виден (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · no innlysende (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · az aşkar (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · zza bellı (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · tr aşikar (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ka საჩინო (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · mi ariari (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · mi tīahoaho (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · fi ilmiselvä (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · eo evidenta (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · fr évident (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · tr belli (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · tr bariz (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · da åbenbar (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · pt óbvio (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ka აშკარა (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · cy amlwg (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · de offensichtlich (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · cmn 明顯 /明显 (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ar بَيِّن (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · sl očiten (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ja 明らか (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ga follasach (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ar مُبِين (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · la manifestus (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · kk айқын (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · de überdeutlich (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ar وَاضِح (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · pdt kloa (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · is augljós (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · nl overduidelijk (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · tl kanawa-nawa (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · got 𐌿𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌸𐍃 (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · mi mārama (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · az açıq-aşkar (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · acw وَاضِح (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · tr net (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · hy ակնհայտ (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ota ظاهر (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · mi pūrangiaho (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · sh očit (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · et ilmselge (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · sv uppenbar (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ota دركار (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ga soiléir (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · pdt dietlich (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · got 𐍃𐍅𐌹𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌸𐍃 (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ro vădit (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · hu nyilvánvaló (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · it evidente (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · eu ageriko (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ro limpede (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · nn berrsynt (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · he מוּבָן מֵאֵלָיו (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · sv tydlig (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ko 뻔하다 (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ast obviu (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · la perspicuus (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · fi itsestäänselvä (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · es evidente (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · gl obvio (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · lv acīm redzams (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · nl voordehandliggend (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · uk я́вний (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory) · ota منجلی (easily discovered or understood; self-explanatory)