obliteration

Other forms: obliterations

Obliteration is the total destruction of something, so that nothing remains of it. Holding a lit match up to a balloon might cause its obliteration.

The noun obliteration can describe a literal destruction, like an explosion or terrible fire, but it's also frequently used to mean a more figurative kind of eradication. You might, for example, hear people on the news talk about the obliteration of democracy in a country, or the obliteration of a politician's candidacy after a scandal is revealed. The word comes from the Latin obliterare, "cause to disappear, blot out, or erase."

Definitions of obliteration

1. noun

   destruction by annihilating something
   synonyms: annihilation

   types:

   atomisation, atomization

   annihilation by reducing something to atoms

   pulverisation, pulverization

   annihilation by pulverizing something

   vaporisation, vaporization

   annihilation by vaporizing something

   type of:

   destruction, devastation

   the termination of something by causing so much damage to it that it cannot be repaired or no longer exists
2. noun

   the complete destruction of every trace of something
   synonyms: eradication

   type of:

   demolition, destruction, wipeout

   an event (or the result of an event) that completely destroys something