obliterated

[ uh-blit-uh-rey-tid ]

adjective

1. completely destroyed or done away with, so that little or no trace remains:

   I stood amid the rubble of obliterated buildings, where not even a feral cat was to be seen.

   Removing the brain tumor left him with an obliterated memory of the last 15 years.

2. blotted out completely so that it cannot be read or discerned:

   He was arrested for possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of obliterate.

Other Words From

• half-ob·lit·er·at·ed adjective
• un·ob·lit·er·at·ed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of obliterated¹

First recorded in 1605–15; obliterate ( def ) + -ed ²( def ) for the adjective senses; obliterate ( def ) + -ed ¹( def ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

The threat in 2001 wasn’t coming from our fellow countrymen, and we weren’t a year into a pandemic that has obliterated all sense of normalcy.

From Quartz

If I ran just three miles in the evening, my thighs, come sunrise, would feel as obliterated as they did after my first marathon.

From Outside Online

Such a move would have been considered unthinkable a year ago, but the pandemic has obliterated industry norms.

From Fortune

I punch over the first — with a victorious howl that I’m now certain obliterated the soundscape — and into a swooping downhill beneath chestnut-hued chimneys and ramparts.

From Washington Post

South Carolina’s Senate contest is drawing gobs of attention and record-obliterating cash, but this bellwether House race down along the coast is worth watching too.

From Ozy

By Dan P. Lee, New York Magazine She was 22 when her memory was obliterated.

From The Daily Beast

Even in the 1930s at the genesis of his long relationship with Vogue, the sheer drama of his work obliterated the competition.

From The Daily Beast

Late in the afternoon of April 26, 1937 waves of bombers obliterated the ancient capital of Basque Spain, Guernica.

From The Daily Beast

Lava and ash fell for days; the sun was obliterated for three months.

From The Daily Beast

The fiasco over Proposition 8, she notes, should have been a case for the Avengers, but they were now “obliterated.”

From The Daily Beast

This first great trouble of his life was only partly obliterated by a still greater grief—the death of his mother.

From Project Gutenberg

But the rivers, by cutting down and tilling up, have long since obliterated these water areas.

From Project Gutenberg

It cannot now, however, be identified, having been obliterated or concealed by the changes of the last two centuries.

From Project Gutenberg

What I have suffered I cannot describe; but I am now with you again, and your kindness has obliterated it all from my memory.

From Project Gutenberg

For a moment, he lost control of himself—they were close together, and the dark had obliterated the room.

From Project Gutenberg