Browse the glossary using this index

Special | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | ALL

O

obnoxious

ob‧nox‧ious /əbˈnɒkʃəs $ -ˈnɑːk-/ adjective  

very offensive, unpleasant, or rude


1580s, "subject to the authority of another," from Latin obnoxiosus "hurtful, injurious," from obnoxius "subject, exposed to harm," from ob "to, toward" (see ob-) + noxa "injury, hurt, damage entailing liability" (see noxious). Meaning "subject to something harmful" is 1590s; meaning "offensive, hateful" is first recorded 1670s, influenced by noxious.

Examples:

- True, when forced to come out into the light a little,
people like Lloyd Blankfein proved to be jaw-droppingly
obnoxious douchebags who made you want to drive a fist through
your TV set. (Taibbi - Griftopia)

- Perpetua, slightly senior and therefore thinking she is in charge of me, was at her most obnoxious and
bossy, going on and on to the point of utter boredom about latest half-million-pound property she is planning to buy with her rich-but-overbred boyfriend, Hugo: 'Yars, yars, well it is north-facing but they've done something frightfully clever with the light.' (Fielding - Bridget Jones)



ovate

=oval, egg-shaped