efface

/ɪˈfeɪs/

Other forms: effaced; effacing; effaces

If something is erased or rubbed out, it has been effaced. Teachers get annoyed to find that someone has effaced the blackboard — even the part clearly marked, "Do Not Erase!"

You can also efface things that are not physical — like effacing feelings, impressions, or memories. When you efface a memory, you wipe it out as well. Some people believe that their good deeds are able to efface their past wrongs. They'll have to rely on others' opinions to see how well that works.

Definitions of efface

1. verb

   remove by or as if by rubbing or erasing
   synonyms: erase, rub out, score out, wipe off

   types:

   sponge

   erase with a sponge; as of words on a blackboard

   cut out, scratch out

   strike or cancel by or as if by rubbing or crossing out

   type of:

   cancel, delete

   remove or make invisible
2. verb

   remove completely from recognition or memory
   “efface the memory of the time in the camps”

   synonyms: obliterate

   blot out, hide, obliterate, obscure, veil

   make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or concealing

   type of:

   blur, dim, slur

   become vague or indistinct
3. verb

   make inconspicuous
   “efface oneself”

   type of:

   humble

   cause to be unpretentious