obnoxious

adjective

ob·​nox·​ious äb-ˈnäk-shəs 

əb-

1

: odiously or disgustingly objectionable : highly offensive

2

archaic : exposed to something unpleasant or harmful

—used with to

3

archaic : deserving of censure

obnoxiously adverb

obnoxiousness noun

Synonyms

• ugly
• disgusting
• awful
• horrible
• hideous
• sickening
• obscene
• offensive
• shocking
• nasty
• dreadful
• unpleasant

Examples of obnoxious in a Sentence

Let's get right into it. The title of your book, Why We Suck, is pretty obnoxious. Are we really that bad? —Rachel Deahl, Boston Globe, 30 Nov. 2008

"Not to sound obnoxious, but this downturn could be good for us," says Max Levchin, founder and CEO of Slide, in San Francisco. "Some of our competitors are going to go out of business." —Daniel Lyons, Newsweek, 20 Oct. 2008

Now that many large cities are surrounded by Stygian fields of concrete tedium, urban sprawl looks like an obnoxious side effect of prosperity and decline. —Graham Robb, The Discovery of France, 2007

The teller's eyes widened as a customer poured thousands of pennies onto the counter, an intentionally obnoxious way to pay a high heating bill. —Erik Eckholm, New York Times, 26 June 2006

He said some really obnoxious things about his ex-girlfriend at the party.

Some teenagers were being loud and obnoxious.

Recent Examples on the Web

In the three years since Carrie came back into our lives, many fans criticized the sequel series: The characters were obnoxious, the plot lines humiliating. —Lyz Lenz, Rolling Stone, 16 Aug. 2025

Martin is an obnoxious but charming goof alongside his smart and far-too-tolerant girlfriend, Gina (Tisha Campbell), with best friends rounding out the hangout comedy. —Tanya Melendez, EW.com, 16 Aug. 2025

Unsurprisingly, Tommy Lee Jones, who appeared in this movie the year after The Fugitive, lends even a very obnoxious prosecutor some welcome notes of humor. —Linda Holmes, NPR, 15 Aug. 2025

That includes the obnoxious power strip, the slinky of cords coiled like a bad habit, and the dozens of imitation wireless chargers that still lean on cable spaghetti hidden under the table. —Daniel Fusch, USA Today, 11 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin obnoxius "under obligation, subservient, liable, exposed to, vulnerable" (of uncertain origin) + -ous

Note: Latin obnoxius has traditionally been taken to be a parasynthetic derivative from the phrase ob noxiam "due to wrongdoing, on account of bad behavior" (see noxious), but this explanation does not account for the primary senses of the word. Ernout and Meillet (Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine) take -noxius as a desiderative derivative from the base of nancīscī "to acquire" (see enough entry 1), parallel to anxius "worried"/angere "to strangle, distress" (see anxious), alsius "liable to injury from cold"/algēre "to be cold." The English sense "objectionable" is probably due to influence of noxious and its etymon, Latin noxius.

First Known Use

1597, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for obnoxious

• noxious

Kids Definition

obnoxious

adjective

ob·​nox·​ious äb-ˈnäk-shəs 

əb-

: very disagreeable or offensive

obnoxiously adverb

obnoxiousness noun