Obvious

ˈɒbvɪəs

adjectiveBeginner🔥Very CommonDescriptive
1 meaning3 questions

Definitions

1

Easily seen, understood, or recognized.

ˈɒbvɪəs

adjectiveneutralBeginner
Descriptive

Easily perceived or understood; clear.

The solution to the puzzle was obvious.

💡 Simply: Imagine you're looking for your keys and they're right on the table in front of you. That's obvious! If something is obvious, it means it's super easy to see or understand, like, 'It's *obvious* you forgot your homework because it's not in your backpack!'.

👶 For kids: Something that's easy to see or know, like when the sun is shining outside - it's obvious it's daytime!

More Examples

2

It was obvious from his expression that he was lying.

3

The signs of spring are obvious in the blooming flowers.

How It's Used

General

"It was obvious that she was upset."

Mathematics

"The solution to the problem was immediately obvious."

From Latin *obvius* ('in the way, apparent'), from *ob* ('in front of, towards') + *via* ('way').

Used since the early 17th century, initially in a more technical sense of 'lying in the way,' then evolving to the current meaning.

Memory tip

Imagine a bright neon sign—it’s OBVIOUS!

Word Origin

Original meaning

"in the way, evident"

obvious answerobvious mistakeobvious reasonobvious signobvious choice

Common misspellings

obvioussobviosobviousley

Usage

60%Spoken
40%Written