Words / O / General

obviate

verb/ˈɒbvieɪt/

C1CEFR level
62/100Rarity: rare
FormalRegister

To remove a need or difficulty, or to prevent something from arising.

A clearer set of instructions would obviate most of the support requests.

Similar: preclude, forestall, avert

Topic: GRE Verbal in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More general words: GRE Verbal