oblivion means the state of forgetting completely, of being oblivious, unconscious, unaware, as when sleeping, drunk, or dead. It carries an Arena rating of 1643, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, oblivion ranks #2,234 of 14,308 for Most Malleable Words, #2,328 of 14,438 for Most Storied Words, #2,356 of 14,297 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #2,498 of 14,340 for Most Vivid Words.
oblivion is pronounced /əˈblɪviːən/.
Why “oblivion” is a great word
The state of being completely forgotten or of having lost all awareness and memory. From Middle English oblivion, through Anglo-Norman, from Latin oblīviō ("forgetfulness"), itself rooted in oblīvīscī ("to forget"), first recorded in English between 1350 and 1400. Unlike "obscurity," which implies a mere lack of renown, or "unconsciousness," a temporary lapse in sentience, oblivion is the absolute and permanent terminus of memory. It is the last syllable whispered into a gale, the final grain of sand slipping through an hourglass, a name weathered from stone by centuries of indifferent rain—the universe's quiet, perfect erasure.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English oblivion, from Anglo-Norman oblivion, from Latin oblīviō (“forgetfulness”), from oblīvīscor (“to forget”).
noun
- The state of forgetting completely, of being oblivious, unconscious, unaware, as when sleeping, drunk, or dead.“He regularly drank himself into oblivion.”
- The state of being completely forgotten, of being reduced to a state of non-existence, extinction, or nothingness, including through war and destruction. (Figuratively) for an area like hell, a wasteland.“Due to modern technology, many more people and much more information will not slip into oblivion, contrary to what happened throughout history until now.”
- A form of purgatory.
- Amnesty.
verb
- To consign to oblivion; to efface utterly.
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.