obtrusive
English
WOTD – 11 September 2023
Etymology
| PIE word |
|---|
| *h₁epi |
From Latin obtrūsus + English -ive (suffix meaning ‘of the nature of’, forming adjectives). Obtrūsus is the perfect passive participle of obtrūdō,[1] a variant of obstrūdō (“to push, shove, or thrust against or into”), from ob- (prefix meaning ‘against; towards’) + trūdō (“to push, shove, or thrust”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *trewd- (“to push; to thrust”)).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /əbˈtɹuːsɪv/, /ɒb-/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /əbˈtɹusɪv/, /ɑb-/
- Rhymes: -uːsɪv
- Hyphenation: ob‧trus‧ive
Adjective
obtrusive (comparative more obtrusive, superlative most obtrusive)
- (figurative)
- Of a person: overly assertive, bold, or domineering; pushy; also, ostentatious.
- Synonyms: intrusive, overassertive, overbearing, sharp-elbowed; see also Thesaurus:bossy
- Antonyms: inobtrusive, nonobtrusive, unobtrusive
- The office manager is an unpleasantly obtrusive individual.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 1139–1142:
- Her vertue and the conſcience of her worth, / That would be woo'd, and not unfought be won, / Not obvious, not obtruſive, but retir'd, / The more deſirable, […]
- Of a thing: noticeable or prominent, especially in a displeasing way.
- Synonyms: in-your-face, ostentatious
- Antonyms: inobtrusive, nonobtrusive, unobtrusive
- He has an obtrusive forehead.
- 1914 September – 1915 May, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Bodymaster”, in The Valley of Fear: A Sherlock Holmes Novel, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 27 February 1915, →OCLC, part II (The Scowrers), pages 194–195:
- Thus it was that, year by year, Boss McGinty's diamond pins became more obtrusive, his gold chains more weighty across a more gorgeous vest, and his saloon stretched farther and farther, until it threatened to absorb one whole side of the Market Square.
- 1933 September, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “Melodramatic Interlude”, in The Shape of Things to Come, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, 4th book (The Modern State Militant), page 338:
- But there was a third principal in this primitive drama, the wife of Essenden, a woman of great energy, great possessiveness and obtrusive helpfulness.
- Of a person: overly assertive, bold, or domineering; pushy; also, ostentatious.
- (obsolete) Protruding or sticking out, especially in a way that obstructs.
- Synonyms: bulging, jutting
- Antonyms: inobtrusive, nonobtrusive, unobtrusive
- The facade of the building was ornamented with obtrusive sculpted designs.
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Translations
of a person: overly assertive, bold, or domineering — see also pushy
|
ostentatious — see ostentatious
of a thing: noticeable or prominent, especially in a displeasing way
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References
- Compare “obtrusive, adj.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “obtrusive, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Italian
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