oblivion

Also found in: Thesaurus, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

o·bliv·i·on

(ə-blĭv′ē-ən)

1. The condition or quality of being completely forgotten: "He knows that everything he writes is consigned to posterity (oblivion's other, seemingly more benign, face)" (Joyce Carol Oates).

2. The act or an instance of forgetting; total forgetfulness: sought the great oblivion of sleep.

3. Archaic Official overlooking of offenses; amnesty.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin oblīviō, oblīviōn-, from oblīvīscī, to forget; see lei- in Indo-European roots.]

oblivion

(əˈblɪvɪən)

1. the condition of being forgotten or disregarded

2. the state of being mentally withdrawn or blank

3. (Law) law an intentional overlooking, esp of political offences; amnesty; pardon

[C14: via Old French from Latin oblīviō forgetfulness, from oblīviscī to forget]

ob•liv•i•on

(əˈblɪv i ən)

n.

1. the state of being completely forgotten.

2. the state of forgetting or of being oblivious: the oblivion of sleep.

[1350–1400; Middle English (< Middle French) < Latin oblīviō=oblīv(īscī) to forget + -iō -ion]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	oblivion - the state of being disregarded or forgotten limbo obscurity - an obscure and unimportant standing; not well known; "he worked in obscurity for many years"
	2.	oblivion - total forgetfulness; "he sought the great oblivion of sleep" obliviousness forgetfulness - unawareness caused by neglectful or heedless failure to remember; "his forgetfulness increased as he grew older"

oblivion

noun

1. unconsciousness, forgetfulness, senselessness, obliviousness, unawareness, insensibility, (waters of) Lethe He drank himself into oblivion.
unconsciousness perception, awareness, consciousness, sensibility

2. neglect, anonymity, insignificance, obscurity, limbo, nothingness, unimportance Most of these performers will fail and sink into oblivion.

3. extinction, annihilation, eradication, obliteration An entire section of the town was bombed into oblivion.

oblivion

noun

Freedom from worry, care, or unpleasantness:

escape, forgetfulness, obliviousness.

Translations

olvido

oubliscotomisation

oblio dimentico

oblivion

[əˈblɪvɪən] N → olvido m
to cast into oblivion → echar al olvido
to fall or sink into oblivion → caer en el olvido

oblivion

[əˈblɪviən] n → oubli m
to be consigned to oblivion (= forgotten about) → être relégué au passé, être relégué aux oubliettes
to consign sb to oblivion → condamner qn à l'oubli
to consign sth to oblivion → reléguer qch aux oubliettes

oblivion

→ Vergessenheit f, → Vergessen nt; to sink or fall into oblivion → in Vergessenheit geraten, der Vergessenheit anheimfallen (geh); to rescue somebody/something from oblivion → jdn/etw wieder ins Bewusstsein or ans Tageslicht bringen; he drank himself into oblivion → er trank bis zur Bewusstlosigkeit; to be bombed/blasted into oblivion (town etc) → dem Erdboden gleichgemacht werden

(= unawareness) = obliviousness

oblivion

[əˈblɪvɪən] n → oblio
to fall or sink into oblivion → cadere nell'oblio

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

Therefore, he made them all drink of the Water of Oblivion and forget everything they had known, so that they became as simple and innocent as their King.

View in context

So that as Plato had an imagination, That all knowledge was but remembrance; so Solomon giveth his sentence, That all novelty is but oblivion. Whereby you may see, that the river of Lethe runneth as well above ground as below.

View in context

Many Theresas have been born who found for themselves no epic life wherein there was a constant unfolding of far-resonant action; perhaps only a life of mistakes, the offspring of a certain spiritual grandeur ill-matched with the meanness of opportunity; perhaps a tragic failure which found no sacred poet and sank unwept into oblivion. With dim lights and tangled circumstance they tried to shape their thought and deed in noble agreement; but after all, to common eyes their struggles seemed mere inconsistency and formlessness; for these later-born Theresas were helped by no coherent social faith and order which could perform the function of knowledge for the ardently willing soul.

View in context

As the supreme perfection and universality of the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey" cast into oblivion whatever pre-Homeric poets had essayed, so these same qualities exercised a paralysing influence over the successors of Homer.

View in context

But the wet boots had at last suggested to Silas that the child had been walking on the snow, and this roused him from his entire oblivion of any ordinary means by which it could have entered or been brought into his house.

View in context

For the rest, the waters of oblivion had closed over the old golden days at Greenwater Broad.

View in context

The viceroy, disappointed in his scheme, vented all his rage upon Father James, whom the patriarch had given him as his confessor; the good man was carried, bound hand and foot, into the middle of the camp; the viceroy gave the first stab in the throat, and all the rest struck him with their lances, and dipped their weapons in his blood, promising each other that they would never accept of any act of oblivion or terms of peace by which the Catholic religion was not abolished throughout the empire, and all those who professed it either banished or put to death.

View in context

The hunting season over, all past tricks and maneuvres are forgotten, all feuds and bickerings buried in oblivion. From the middle of June to the middle of September, all trapping is suspended; for the beavers are then shedding their furs and their skins are of little value.

View in context

That night, la Esmeralda had fallen asleep in her cell, full of oblivion, of hope, and of sweet thoughts.

View in context

This, reader, I will venture to say (and by how much the better man you are yourself, by so much the more will you be inclined to believe me), that I would rather have buried the sentiments of these two persons in eternal oblivion, than have done any injury to either of these glorious causes.

View in context

There had been a period of repose, and he had sunk into oblivion. He had completely forgotten what was going on now.

View in context

Here it was, he told me, that he saw for the first time that mortal enemy of the human race, and here, too, for the first time he declared to her his passion, as honourable as it was devoted, and here it was that at last Marcela ended by scorning and rejecting him so as to bring the tragedy of his wretched life to a close; here, in memory of misfortunes so great, he desired to be laid in the bowels of eternal oblivion." Then turning to Don Quixote and the travellers he went on to say, "That body, sirs, on which you are looking with compassionate eyes, was the abode of a soul on which Heaven bestowed a vast share of its riches.