obviate
Americanverb (used with object)
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obviates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
obviated,
past participle, past
-
obviating
present participle
verb
Usage
Only things that have not yet occurred can be obviated. For example, one can obviate a possible future difficulty, but not one that already exists
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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obviationnoun
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obviatornoun
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preobviateverb (used with object)
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obviableadjective
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unobviableadjective
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unobviatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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obviatesimple
-
obviatessimple
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have obviatedperfect
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has obviatedperfect
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am obviatingprogressive
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are obviatingprogressive
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is obviatingprogressive
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have been obviatingperfect progressive
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has been obviatingperfect progressive
Past
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obviatedsimple
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had obviatedperfect
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was obviatingprogressive
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were obviatingprogressive
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had been obviatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of obviate
1590–1600; from Latin obviātus, past participle of obviāre “to act contrary to,” derivative of obvius; see obvious, -ate 1
Explanation
To obviate means to eliminate the need for something or to prevent something from happening. If you want to obviate the possibility of a roach infestation, clean your kitchen regularly. The prefix ob means "to go against." That makes sense when you look at the words obstruct and obstacle, but how about obstetrics? Why does the name of the branch of medicine dealing with birth have the same root as words that mean "stop" or "get in the way"? Because a midwife stands opposite to, or against, the woman giving birth.
Vocabulary lists containing obviate
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This will obviate the need to travel to entertainment venues and make access economical and on-demand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
As Bessent should understand, the violation of one logical condition can obviate the logic of another—what a logician might call an “antecedent condition.”
From Barron's ● Jan. 22, 2026
Strategy already set aside a $1.4 billion reserve for dividend and interest payments over the next two years to obviate the need to sell bitcoins in the near future.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 4, 2025
They also obviate the emotional component of investing, which so often can lead ordinary investors astray.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2025
To go through kemmer without a partner is pretty hard on a Gethenian; better, then, simply obviate the misery and wasted worktime, and not go through kemmer at all.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
So this basically obviates the need for everybody to own their own vehicle.
From Salon ● Nov. 9, 2023
The telephone obviates the use of a bullhorn, with a soldier standing south of the border, reading out a message to the North Korean side.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 24, 2023
The XPS 17’s spacious 16:10 17-inch screen nearly obviates the need to use an external monitor.
From The Verge ● Feb. 2, 2022
But perhaps the face mask obviates all of that.
From New York Times ● Jun. 10, 2020
It obviates stitching, allows of each leaf being firmly secured, and hence is especially well suited for single-leaved books.
Yet obviated in an instant would be many aggravations the government now links to Live Nation’s “market power.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
That history, the majority found, obviated the need for the preclearance system.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2023
“Couldn’t you have solved this problem or precluded this, obviated this problem by obtaining a general release in your settlement?” he asked.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 18, 2023
“So that kind of obviated the choice of Jarvis,” said Poster.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2021
The need of this had been obviated by an invention which he had first heard of in London during his visit there in 1816.
From William Hickling Prescott by Harry Thurston Peck
It can surface reliable restaurant recommendations nearby, obviating long searches through Google Maps or Yelp.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Many of its 94 minutes are occupied with well-mounted car chases, stunts and gunfights, obviating the need for character development, past the traditional foes-become-friends dynamic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2025
Sickness can hurt farm output by slowing animals' growth, so disease detection systems could improve efficiency by obviating the need for costly clinical testing.
From Salon ● May 15, 2024
The information contained in a paper return could be squirted over a modem as a series of 0’s and 1’s, obviating the need to kill trees and race to the post office.
From Slate ● Feb. 1, 2024
A gibbous moon rose above the shoulder of 27,824-foot Makalu, washing the slope beneath my boots in ghostly light, obviating the need for a headlamp.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
