Etymologically
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obnoxious

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 20:59. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /əbˈnɒkʃəs/, /ɒb-/[1]
  • US: /əbˈnɑkʃəs/, /əbˈnɒkʃəs/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin obnoxiōsus (“subject, subordinate; hurtful”),[2][3][4][5][6] from obnoxius (“exposed to harm, liable, subject to punishment”),[2][4][7] formed from ob- (“to, toward”) and noxa (“hurt, injury”),[2][3][5][8] the base of noxious.[2][4] Etymonline and the American Heritage Dictionary trace noxa to Proto-Indo-European *nek- (“death”).[3][5] The modern sense "offensive" is due to association with that word.[2][4][9][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Liable, subject or exposed to something, especially something harmful: 1572, in R. Harrison's translation of Lavater's Of Ghostes.[2][6] Barnhart dates the word to 1581 in the sense "subject to authority",[4] and Etymonline to the 1580s.[3]

Semantic evolution

The passive Latin sense, exposed or liable to harm, was the usual one before the 19th century.[2] From 1591 to the mid-18th century the word could also mean subject to the power of another, or submissive,[2][4] and between 1604 and 1824 open to punishment or blame;[2] Johnson (1755) gave "subject" and "liable to punishment" as its first senses.[10] Trench explained the shift: the word first meant one who had done wrong and so deserved punishment, then anyone liable to punishment, and since we wish to punish those we dislike, it came to mean "offensive".[11] The OED and the Oxford Dictionary of English put the active senses, hurtful (1638–83) and then offensive or odious (1646), down to the influence of noxious;[2][9] Barnhart and Etymonline date "offensive" from the 1670s.[4][3] Etymonline quotes Fowler's hope that scholars would keep the old sense alive.[3]

Timeline

  • 1572 – liable or exposed to something harmful.[2][6]
  • 1591 – subject to the power of another (obsolete by 1754).[2]
  • 1604 – open to punishment or blame (obsolete by 1824).[2]
  • 1638 – hurtful, injurious (obsolete by 1683).[2]
  • 1646 – offensive, odious, highly objectionable.[2]
  • 1675 – Barnhart's first date for the sense offensive.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Extremely unpleasant or offensive; odious, especially of a person who behaves objectionably: His obnoxious remarks spoiled the evening.[12][6][2]
  2. (archaic) Liable or exposed to something harmful or unpleasant, often with to.[6][12][2]
  3. (obsolete, 1591–1754) Subject to the authority of another; submissive.[2][4]

Word family

  • obnoxiously
  • obnoxiousness
  • unobnoxious

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  11. ^ Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker
  12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins