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obnoxious

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ob⋅nox⋅ious

  [uhb-nok-shuhs]
Use obnoxious in a Sentence
–adjective
1. highly objectionable or offensive; odious: obnoxious behavior.
2. annoying or objectionable due to being a showoff or attracting undue attention to oneself: an obnoxious little brat.
3. Archaic. exposed or liable to harm, evil, or anything objectionable.
4. Obsolete. liable to punishment or censure; reprehensible.
Origin:
1575–85; < L obnoxiōsus harmful, equiv. to ob- ob- + noxiōsus noxious

Related forms:
ob⋅nox⋅ious⋅ly, adverb
ob⋅nox⋅ious⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. See hateful.

Antonyms:
1. delightful.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ob·nox·ious   (ŏb-nŏk'shəs, əb-)   
adj.  

  1. Very annoying or objectionable; offensive or odious: "I know no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution" (Ulysses S. Grant).

  2. Archaic Exposed to harm, injury, or evil: "The town ... now lies obnoxious to its foes" (John Bunyan).

  3. Archaic Deserving of or liable to censure.


[Latin obnoxiōsus, subordinate, from obnoxius, subject, liable : ob-, to; see ob- + noxa, injury; see nek-1 in Indo-European roots.]
ob·nox'ious·ly adv., ob·nox'ious·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

obnoxious 
1581, from L. obnoxiosus "hurtful, injurious," from obnoxius "subject to harm," from ob "to, toward" + noxa "injury, hurt, damage entailing liability" (see noxious). Originally "subject to authority, subject to something harmful;" meaning "offensive, hateful" is first recorded 1675, influenced by noxious (q.v.).
"Obnoxious has two very different senses, one of which (exposed or open or liable to attack or injury) requires notice because its currency is now so restricted that it is puzzling to the uninstructed. It is the word's rightful or de jure meaning, and we may hope that scholarly writers will keep it alive." [Fowler]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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