What does obliterated mean?
Obliterated is the past tense and past participle of obliterate, a verb meaning to destroy or remove something completely. The word can describe physical destruction, such as a disaster wiping out a building or landscape, but it is also widely used figuratively for making a person, event, or record disappear from public awareness. Saying that something was “obliterated from the record” means that all official traces of it were removed. Its force comes from the implication of total, irreversible loss, so it is stronger and more emphatic than words such as erased or removed. The term can also describe an obstruction to sight or perception, as when fog obliterates a landscape. Although understood in British and American English, it has a formal, occasionally literary tone and is especially common in journalism, historical writing, and figurative descriptions of memory, reputation, and evidence.
To destroy, erase, or remove completely.
"Falling rocks obliterated the entrance to the cave."
Often implies total and irreversible destruction or disappearance.
Completely destroyed, erased, or made unable to be seen or perceived.
"The storm left an obliterated landscape in its wake."
This participial adjective is especially common in literary and journalistic prose.
To obliterate something is not merely to hide it: it is to erase its existence, its traces, and sometimes even its memory.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does obliterated come from?
The word comes from Latin obliterare, formed from ob- meaning “against” or “over” and littera, meaning “letter” or “writing.” Its earliest sense referred to removing writing so thoroughly that it could no longer be read. The verb later broadened to mean destroying or effacing something completely, and it eventually developed figurative uses for removing people, events, or memories from awareness. The modern form entered English through the Latin and was established in its broader sense by the 16th century.
Related word forms
How obliterated is actually used
The word is formal and often suggests an irreversible or exceptionally thorough destruction. It is frequently used in figurative contexts, especially for erasing history, reputation, evidence, or memory.
Easily confused with obliterated
Eliminated means removed or excluded, whereas obliterated suggests that the thing or its traces have been destroyed completely.
Erased commonly refers to removing written or recorded information, while obliterated has a broader sense of complete destruction or disappearance.