obtrusive

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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

Adjective

obtrusive (comparative more obtrusive, superlative most obtrusive)

  1. (figurative)
    1. 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], and are to be sold by Peter Parker ; nd by Robert Boulter ; nd Matthias Walker, , →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, […]
    2. 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 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 G 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.
  2. (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

References

  1. ^ Compare “obtrusive, adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “obtrusive, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Italian

Adjective

obtrusive

  1. feminine plural of obtrusivo
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