obvious

The word “obvious” means easy to see or understand; not needing explanation. In plain terms, clear and easy to notice or understand.

“Obvious” is pronounced O-veers (/ˈɑb.vi.əs/ in IPA).

Here is “obvious” used in a sentence: “It was obvious she hadn't slept in days.”

The opposite of “obvious” — its antonyms — are clear as mud, inconspicuous, inevident, nonevident and muddied.

“Obvious” is an adjective.

The word “obvious” comes from Latin. From Latin obvius, "in the way, easy to meet", from ob- ("towards") plus via ("road, way") — something literally "in your path" is easy to spot.

“Obvious” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

Both mean easy to notice, but with a slight difference. Obvious means immediately clear, needing no thought at all. Evident suggests something is clear once you look at the signs or evidence. An obvious mistake jumps out at once, while an evident improvement becomes clear from what you can observe.

Common opposites are subtle, hidden, and unclear. Something subtle is present but easy to miss, while something obscure or hidden is deliberately hard to see. Where obvious means needing no explanation, its opposites such as puzzling, cryptic, or ambiguous describe things that do require thought to understand.

Usually it is neutral, simply meaning something is easy to see. It can turn mildly negative in phrases like 'stating the obvious' or 'too obvious', which suggest something is unoriginal, clumsy, or lacking subtlety. Tone and context decide whether obvious is a plain observation or a gentle criticism.

If someone walks in soaked, it is obvious that it is raining, and no explanation is needed. A spelling mistake in a large headline is obvious because it is easy to spot. The word fits anything so clear that almost anyone would notice or understand it at once.