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

• abhorrent
• abominable
• appalling
• awful
• disgusting
• distasteful
• dreadful
• evil
• foul
• fulsome
• gross
• hideous
• horrendous
• horrible
• horrid
• loathsome
• nasty
• nauseating
• nauseous
• noisome
• noxious
• obscene
• odious
• offensive
• rancid
• repellent
• repellant
• repugnant
• repulsive
• revolting
• scandalous
• shocking
• sickening
• ugly

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

Like, watched it all the way through from the shrill opening filled with obnoxious kids to the leadenly staged slapstick climax? —Keith Phipps, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2024

Although the court was an obnoxious shade of yellow to signify and celebrate the NBA Cup occasion, Denver was officially eliminated from the group stage of the in-season tournament by halftime, due to other results around the league. —Bennett Durando, The Denver Post, 3 Dec. 2024

Some will be tempted to disregard the latest Russian nuclear threats as nothing more than obnoxious Russian grumblings. —Matt Robison, Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2024

If left alone spiders provide free pest control, eating more obnoxious pests such as flies, said Allen Lawrance, associate curator of entomology at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum located in Chicago and operated by the Chicago Academy of Science. —Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 29 Oct. 2024

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

Kids Definition

obnoxious

adjective

ob·​nox·​ious äb-ˈnäk-shəs 

əb-

: very disagreeable or offensive

obnoxiously adverb

obnoxiousness noun