obvious

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ob·vi·ous

(ŏb′vē-əs)

adj.

1. Easily perceived or understood; apparent. See Synonyms at apparent.

2. Easily seen through because of a lack of subtlety; transparent: an obvious political ploy that fooled no one.

[From Latin obvius, from obviam, in the way, within reach : ob-, against; see ob- + viam, accusative sing. of via, way; see wegh- in Indo-European roots.]

ob′vi·ous·ly adv.

ob′vi·ous·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

obvious

(ˈɒbvɪəs)

adj

1. easy to see or understand; evident

2. exhibiting motives, feelings, intentions, etc, clearly or without subtlety

3. naive or unsubtle: the play was rather obvious.

4. obsolete being or standing in the way

[C16: from Latin obvius, from obviam in the way, from ob- against + via way]

ˈobviousness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ob•vi•ous

(ˈɒb vi əs)

adj.

1. easily seen, recognized, or understood; open to view or knowledge; evident.

2. lacking in subtlety.

3. Obs. being or standing in the way.

[1580–90; < Latin obvius in the way =ob- ob- + -vius, adj. derivative of via way]

ob′vi•ous•ly, adv.

ob′vi•ous•ness, n.

syn: See apparent.

obvious

If something is obvious, you can easily see it or understand it.

It was painfully obvious that I knew very little about it.

For obvious reasons, I preferred my house to his.

You can say that something is obvious to someone.

The reasons are obvious to all of us.

It must have been obvious to everyone in Bristol what was happening.

Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.

obvious - easily perceived by the senses or grasped by the mind; "obvious errors"

overt, open - open and observable; not secret or hidden; "an overt lie"; "overt hostility"; "overt intelligence gathering"; "open ballots"

unobvious - not immediately apparent; "in mathematical science connections are exhibited which...are extremely unobvious"- A.N.Whitehead

obvious

adjective clear, open, plain, apparent, visible, bold, patent, evident, distinct, pronounced, straightforward, explicit, manifest, transparent, noticeable, blatant, conspicuous, overt, unmistakable, palpable, unequivocal, undeniable, salient, recognizable, unambiguous, self-evident, indisputable, perceptible, much in evidence, unquestionable, open-and-shut, cut-and-dried (informal), undisguised, incontrovertible, self-explanatory, unsubtle, unconcealed, clear as a bell, staring you in the face (informal), right under your nose (informal), sticking out a mile (informal), plain as the nose on your face (informal) It's obvious that he doesn't like me.
hidden, concealed, obscure, vague, invisible, unclear, ambiguous, inconspicuous, imperceptible, indistinct, clear as mud (informal), unapparent

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

obvious

adjective

1. Readily seen, perceived, or understood:

apparent, clear, clear-cut, crystal clear, distinct, evident, manifest, noticeable, observable, patent, plain, pronounced, visible.

2. Easily seen through due to a lack of subtlety:

broad, clear, patent, plain, unmistakable, unsubtle.

Translations

جَلِيٌّ واضِح

zřejmý

åbenlysindlysende

offensichtlich plump augenfällig evident klar

προφανής οφθαλμοφανής

obvio evidente

selge

ilmeinen

évident limpide obvie patent

očit

nyilvánvaló

greinilegur

ovvio evidente

明らかな

분명한

acīmredzamsnepārprotams

duidelijk overduidelijk

evident

jasenočiten

uppenbar

เห็นได้ชัด

açık belli

rõ ràng

明显的

obvious

[ˈɒbvɪəs]

A. ADJ

1. (= clear, perceptible) [disadvantage, solution] → obvio, claro; [danger] → evidente; [question] → obvio
to be obvious that → estar claro que, ser obvio or evidente que
it's obvious that he's unhappy/we can't win → está claro or es evidente que es infeliz/no podemos ganar
he isn't going to resign, that much is obvious → no va a dimitir, eso está claro or es evidente
it's obvious, isn't it? → es obvio, ¿no?
it was by no means obvious who would win → no estaba claro en absoluto quién iba a ganar
her confusion was obvious → era evidente que estaba confusa
she made it very obvious that she didn't like him → dejó muy claro que no le gustaba, hizo patente que no le gustaba
he's the obvious man for the job → es la persona obvia para el puesto
it was painfully obvious that she hadn't studied for the exam → estaba clarísimo que no había estudiado para el examen
it's perfectly obvious that he has no intention of coming → está perfectamente claro or es más que evidente que no tiene intención de venir
for obvious reasons → por razones obvias or evidentes
it's the obvious thing to do → está claro que es eso lo que hay que hacer
it was obvious to everyone that it had been a mistake → todo el mundo se daba cuenta de que había sido un error
it's not that obvious to me → para mí no está tan claro

2. (= unsubtle) [ploy] → evidente, obvio; [lie] → descarado; [symbolism] → poco sutil
we mustn't be too obvious about it → no conviene que se nos note demasiado
her rather obvious charms → sus encantos poco sutiles

B. N to state the obvious → afirmar lo obvio

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

obvious

[ˈɒbviəs]

adj

(= easily recognizable) → évident(e)
an obvious miscarriage of justice → une erreur judiciaire évidente
the most obvious example → l'exemple le plus évident

[choice] → évident(e); [place] → évident; [question, answer, solution] → évident(e)
the obvious place to do sth → l'endroit évident pour faire qch

(= easily understandable) it's obvious (that) ... → il est évident que ...
for obvious reasons → pour des raisons évidentes

n
to state the obvious → dire une évidence
It may be stating the obvious but
BUT C'est peut-être une lapalissade mais.

obvious

adj → offensichtlich, deutlich; (visually also) → augenfällig; (= not subtle) → plump; proof → klar, eindeutig; difference, fact → eindeutig, offensichtlich, offenkundig; statement → naheliegend, selbstverständlich; reason → (leicht) ersichtlich; dislike, reluctance, surprise → sichtlich; an obvious truth → eine offenkundige Tatsache; because of the obvious truth of what he maintains → da es so eindeutig or offensichtlich wahr ist, was er sagt; that’s the obvious translation/solution → das ist die am nächsten liegende or nächstliegende Übersetzung/Lösung; for obvious reasons → aus naheliegenden Gründen; he was the obvious choice → es lag nahe, ihn zu wählen; it was obvious he didn’t want to come → er wollte offensichtlich nicht kommen; it’s quite obvious he doesn’t understand → man merkt doch (sofort) or es ist doch klar, dass er nicht versteht; to make something a little more obvious → etw etwas deutlicher or eindeutiger machen; there’s no need to make it so obvious → man braucht das (doch) nicht so deutlich werden zu lassen; do I have to make it even more obvious? → muss ich denn noch deutlicher werden?; we must not be too obvious about it → wir dürfen es nicht zu auffällig machen; I would have thought that was perfectly obvious → das liegt doch auf der Hand; (= noticeable) → das springt doch ins Auge; that should be obvious to you → das sollte für Sie offensichtlich sein; with the obvious exception of … → natürlich mit Ausnahme von …; subtle? he’s the most obvious person I know → raffiniert? ich kenne niemanden, der einfacher zu durchschauen wäre!; even if I am stating the obvious → selbst wenn ich hier etwas längst Bekanntes sage; he has a gift for stating the obvious → der merkt aber auch alles! (inf); don’t just state the obvious, try to be original → sagen Sie nicht, was sich von selbst versteht, sondern bemühen Sie sich um Originalität; what’s the obvious thing to do? → was ist das Naheliegendste?, was bietet sich am ehesten an?

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

obvious

[ˈɒbvɪəs] adj (clear, perceptible) → ovvio/a, evidente; (unsubtle) → scontato/a, banale
it's obvious that ... → è ovvio che...
she's the obvious person for the job → è chiaramente la persona che ci vuole per quel lavoro
the obvious thing to do is to leave → la cosa più logica da fare è andarsene
try not to make it obvious that you're bored → cerca di non farti vedere annoiato

obvious

(ˈobviəs) adjective

easily seen or understood; evident. It was obvious that she was ill; an obvious improvement.

ˈobviously adverb

it is clear (that something is the case). Obviously, I'll need some help.

obvious

→ جَلِيٌّ zřejmý åbenlys offensichtlich προφανής obvio ilmeinen évident očit evidente 明らかな 분명한 duidelijk åpenbar oczywisty óbvio очевидный uppenbar เห็นได้ชัด açık rõ ràng 明显的

obvious

a. obvio-a, evidente.

References in classic literature ?

What the result must be was quite obvious, and yet Napoleon offered and Kutuzov accepted that battle.

View in context

The advantages of travelling together are obvious."

View in context

Epigram xiv is a curious poem attributed on no very obvious grounds to Hesiod by Julius Pollox.

View in context

His name is not yet a famous one, as, for obvious reasons, his works are not exhibited at public galleries, though they are occasionally to be seen at private views.

View in context

But by some of my Readers the possibility of the identical appearance of Priests and Women, under the new Legislation, may not be recognized; if so, a word or two will make it obvious.

View in context

I fear lest I should be swayed too much by my own obvious interest in the matter, and that is why I bring the case before you and ask for your advice."

View in context

I do not pretend to plead the immunities of my order so highly as this; but neither will I allow that the author of a modern antique romance is obliged to confine himself to the introduction of those manners only which can be proved to have absolutely existed in the times he is depicting, so that he restrain himself to such as are plausible and natural, and contain no obvious anachronism.

View in context

To take an obvious example, the comic mask is ugly and distorted, but does not imply pain.

View in context

In the ninth paragraph of the Prologue, for instance, it is quite obvious that "Herdsmen" in the verse "Herdsmen, I say, etc., etc.," stands for all those to-day who are the advocates of gregariousness--of the ant-hill.

View in context

Thirdly, those characters which are mainly distinctive of each breed, for instance the wattle and length of beak of the carrier, the shortness of that of the tumbler, and the number of tail-feathers in the fantail, are in each breed eminently variable; and the explanation of this fact will be obvious when we come to treat of selection.

View in context

It seemed to point out that what he was thinking was distressingly obvious; and when you have agreed with the obvious what more is there to say?

View in context

The larger crimes are apt to be the simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is the motive.