Word of the Day: Oblivion

Oblivion comes from Latim oblivio (to forget). It means the state of being completely forgotten. If something is in oblivion, people forgot about it, or are totally unaware of it.

Madonna’s last record had bombed, and the onetime undisputed diva, now 47 years old, seemed perilously poised between one last shot at clawing back into the limelight or sliding further into faded stardom–and, more to the point for Warner, commercial oblivion. (CNN)

Old buildings are marked for oblivion by the Chinese character for “destroy”, chai (it rhymes with sigh), painted on the wall with a big circle round it. (The Economist)

Daniel Scocco on June 11, 2007 Subscribe to our RSS Feed